Infrastructure Spending Plan Promises a Big Boost for Construction Companies
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Monday, June 28, 2021 75 cents ESTABLISHED 1896 • VOL. 175, NO. 178 Ohio auctioneers’ group supports proposed update to license process By KEITH ARNOLD Daily Reporter Staff Writer A state group that represents auc- tioneers last week came out in sup- port of a plan to revamp licensure of the industry. Ohio Auctioneers Association member and licensed auctioneer Wade Baer went before a commit- tee in the Ohio House of Represen- tatives to offer testimony in support of a plan that would change state law regulating auctioneers. Filed as House Bill 321, the bill most notably would eliminate the requirement for all aspiring auctioneers to complete a lengthy apprenticeship program. Rather, auctioneer applicants would be required to complete successfully a course of study in auctioneering at an approved institution. Baer told lawmakers serving on (AP photo by Brooke Duthie Photography) the Agriculture and Conservation Committee that one of the bill’s Many of the nation’s highways and bridges are expected to be repaired if Congress passes an infrastructure bill that will be signed by President Joe Biden. Above is Inter- goals was remove barriers from state 5 near Santa Ana, Calif. entering the business. “HB 321 will accomplish this goal by removing the apprentice- ship program,” he said. “With the Infrastructure spending plan promises changes proposed in this bill, to be a licensed auctioneer a person will need the currently required 80 a big boost for construction companies hours of classroom education from an approved provider and then sit for the auction exam.” By DAMIAN J. TROISE see years of additional business age without any significant over- alysts expect an eventual deal that Upon passing the exam, he add- AP Business Writer as roads and bridges are rebuilt haul. The American Society of Civil will help support a wide swath of ed, applicants would become a fully and buildings are modernized. Engineers gave the nation’s roads industries tied to a national infra- licensed auctioneers — a process Plans to pump money into re- The benefits would be even broad- a poor grade in its 2021 report, structure overhaul. that could take only two months. building the nation’s roads, bridges er, impacting Sherwin-Williams, saying 40 percent of the system is “From an economic growth per- Currently, applicants spend and other infrastructure could give United Rentals and others that now in poor or mediocre condition. spective, we see the infrastructure nearly a year in the apprentice companies that make machinery make, sell, or rent anything used for Bridges, schools and much of the deal really boosting productivity,” program. and materials a solid foundation for construction. key infrastructure in the country said Ken Johnson, investment strat- A joint sponsor of HB 321, Repub- growth. The plans are long overdue, doesn’t score much better. egy analyst at Wells Fargo Invest- lican Rep. Darrell Kick of Loud- Caterpillar, with its heavy ma- economists and business leaders Washington is still debating the ment Institute. onville said the current process is chinery, and construction materials have said, as the nation’s roads, size and scope of any spending outdated. company Vulcan Materials could bridges and other infrastructure package, but economists and an- SEE BOOST, PAGE 11 “HB 321 is legislation that will make necessary updates to the li- cense process and modernize other antiquated areas within Ohio’s auc- tioneer law,” the lawmaker said. He recognized that, on paper, the Ohio, other states, see mixed results from vaccination prizes current apprenticeship and exam process doesn’t seem like too great By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS effect, leading to a 43 percent boost from a pool totaling $10 million. ey — and Democratic Gov. Gavin a challenge, “but for many auction- Associated Press in state vaccination numbers over The rewards include a $5 million Newsom said they increased vac- eers it is simply not attainable. the previous week, but numbers of grand prize that will be drawn later cinations at a time when more was “HB 321 will do away with the COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio, the vaccinations have dropped since this summer. needed to get people to overcome outdated apprenticeship require- state that launched the national then. The sweepstakes kept the vacci- reservations or inertia. ments. This creates a set curriculum “Clearly the impact went down nation rate from declining further movement to offer millions of dol- From the time the incentives as the standard and all new auc- after that second week,” DeWine lars in incentives to boost vaccina- but the initial boost was small. were announced May 27 until the tioneers will have the same central tion rates, planned to conclude its acknowledged Wednesday. According to the governor’s of- June 15 finale, Newsom said Cali- foundation when attaining license program Wednesday — still unable Multiple other states followed fice, the seven-day average of new fornia was one of the few states to in Ohio.” to crack the 50 percent vaccination Ohio’s lead, including Louisiana, vaccination registrations was 1,437 see a week-over-week increase in Baer said the second goal of threshold. Maryland, and New York, with the per day during the first week of the rate of vaccinations, including the bill is to bring online auctions The state’s not alone in mixed impact on vaccinations hard to pin the contest — just 85 more per day a 22 percent increase in the week under state auction law, creating results for prize giving. down. than the previous week. prior to awarding of the grand another layer of protection for Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s Under New Mexico’s “Vax 2 the California awarded $116.5 prizes. consumers. May 12 announcement of the Max” sweepstakes program, vac- million in prizes — the country’s incentive program had the desired cinated residents could win prizes largest pot of vaccine prize mon- SEE STATES, PAGE 11 SEE LICENSE, PAGE 11 Western drought leads to more voracious grasshoppers By MATTHEW BROWN common as climate change shifts struggling species such as monarch Associated Press rainfall patterns, scientists said. butterflies. They’re also concerned To blunt the grasshoppers’ the pesticides could ruin organic BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A pun- economic damage, the U.S. Depart- farms adjacent to spray zones. ishing drought in the West is drying ment of Agriculture this week be- “We’re talking about natural areas up waterways, sparking wildfires gan aerial spraying of the pesticide being sprayed, this is not cropland,” and leaving farmers scrambling for diflubenzuron to kill grasshopper said Sharon Selvaggio, a former U.S. water. Next up: a plague of vora- nymphs before they develop into Fish and Wildlife Service biologist cious grasshoppers. adults. Approximately 3,000 square now with the Xerces Society, a con- Federal agriculture officials are miles in Montana are expected to servation group focused on insects. launching what could become their be sprayed, roughly twice the size Government officials say they will largest grasshopper-killing cam- of Rhode Island. spray pesticides in low concentra- paign since the 1980s amid an out- Agriculture officials had seen tions and reduce the area treated break of the drought-loving insects this year’s infestation coming, after by alternately spraying a strip of that cattle ranchers fear will strip a 2020 survey found dense con- rangeland, then skipping the next centrations of adult grasshoppers strip. The intent is to kill grasshop- bare public and private rangelands. across about 55,000 square miles in pers passing between strips while In central Montana’s Phillips the West. sparing other insects that don’t County, more than 50 miles from A 2021 grasshopper “hazard map” move as far. the nearest town, Frank Wiederrick shows densities of at least 15 in- If spraying is delayed and grass- said large numbers of grasshop- sects per square yard in large areas hoppers grow larger and more resil- pers started showing up on prairie of Montana, Wyoming and Oregon ient, federal officials could resort to surrounding his ranch in recent and portions of Idaho, Arizona, two more toxic pesticides — car- days. Already they’re beginning to Colorado and Nebraska. baryl and malathion, according to denude trees around his house. Left unaddressed, federal offi- government documents. “They’re everywhere,” Wiederrick cials said the agricultural damage Selvaggio said pesticides could said. “Drought and grasshoppers from grasshoppers could become drift into areas not being targeted go together and they are cleaning so severe it could drive up beef and and kill beneficial insects such us out.” crop prices. as bees that pollinate crops. “The Grasshoppers thrive in warm, dry The program’s scale has alarmed toxicity is more than enough to kill weather, and populations already environmentalists who say wide- bees,” she said. “This is not ade- (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service via AP) were up last year, setting the stage spread spraying will kill numerous quate protection.” Federal agriculture officials are launching what could be the largest grasshop- for an even bigger outbreak in 2021. insects, including spiders and other per-killing campaign since the 1980s amid an outbreak of the drought-loving insects Such outbreaks could become more grasshopper predators as well as SEE DROUGHT, PAGE 11 that cattle ranchers fear will strip bare public and private rangelands. 2 Monday, June 28, 2021 THE DAILY REPOrtER Business & Finance Index Users agree Reddit is good motivator for personal finance BUSINESS & FINANCE Bankruptcies .................2 By LAURA MCMULLEN he says. “It can get the wheels Lien Filings ...................2 NerdWallet turning.” Marriage Licenses .............2 Murray also likes r/per- Should you take money sonalfinance for exchanging LAW & GOVERNMENT advice from a stranger on the ideas, such as brainstorming U.S.