U.S. Senator for Wyoming John Barrasso (R-WY), says the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has agreed to a major transportation bill which impacts Wyoming.

Barrasso serves as chairman of the committee and says this is something President Donald Trump asked them to do. The initial bill calls for $500 billion in funding with the way matching funds are done according to the senator.

“Lots of good programs and progress for Wyoming,” Barrasso said.

He says this will open all sorts of projects on infrastructure. He says this is important because the wear and tear on Wyoming’s roads are not necessarily just the people of the Cowboy State, but the big trucks that pass through.

“The impact on the road is four-thousand cars equals one of the big trucks,” Barrasso said. “The responsibility to maintain and keep updated the interstate is certainly a federal government responsibility.”

He says there is a rural component and an urban one as well in the initial bill. He says that’s the way it should be because it cannot be a one-size-fits-all scenario.

He said he had Major General Luke Reiner come testify in Washington D.C. as he serves as the director of Wyoming Department of Transportation.

“That’s kind of the beauty of when you have somebody from Wyoming who is chairing a major committee like that,” Barrasso said. “So Luke Reiner was there to testify for rural needs.”

He also recalled how Todd Fornstrom, president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, came to testify on water infrastructure needs. He says President Trump is focused on helping states have control to its waters.

He says he has had more than 20 people from Wyoming come testify on rural needs. The bill passed committee unanimously, 21-0, just before the congressional recess.