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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., pressed the Administration to abandon its plan to tie $580 million in Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funds owed Wyoming to a grant process.

Barrasso made the call during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. During the hearing, he re-iterated that AML money should be given to states with no strings attached.

Washington owes Wyoming more than $580 million of accumulated AML funds – it is our money. It should come without strings attached,” Barrasso said. “How Wyoming chooses to use these funds is not for Washington to decide. The government’s sole responsibility is to release the money in ‘seven equal installments’ – just as Congress directed them to do.”

In a bipartisan effort, Barrasso joined Senators Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Max Baucus, Jon Tester, both D-Mont., in introducing a bill that would set the record straight once and for all.

The language of the bill, S. 2448, states ‘all payments of this subsection to a certified State or Indian tribe shall be distributed as direct transfers of funds rather than in the form of grants.’

Barrasso is diligently working with his Senate colleagues to find the best avenue to pass the bill before the end of the year.