Chamber of Commerce works with Sen. Barrasso to speed up permitting

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - After the pandemic, many saw supply chain issues that stifled business growth and drove up costs due to demand.

Now lawmakers want to take up the cause to ensure that projects don’t experience further delays.

We talked to business advocates about what they are doing to ensure growth can happen at the speed of business.

After a recent trip to Washington, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce visited with lawmakers and advocates to discuss Wyoming interests.

There they found willing ears and staunch allies in Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Joe Manchin and other Pro-Energy Congress, where they focused on addressing the bottleneck of business and energy needs.

”The average project in the United States takes seven years right now. So think road projects, water projects, broad band projects. Think about all the money we have decided to spend on infrastructure in the last few years, but you can’t get that money on the ground because you can’t get those projects rolling,” said Dale Steenbergen—President and C.E.O. of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber and the Action and Advocacy Team joined national business leaders in heading to Washington to help grow business in their states and address a slow permitting system.

According to experts, delays and bureaucracy freeze projects needed to build infrastructure, transportation, and energy.

In speaking with Congressional members, they asked them to pass legislation that modernizes permitting processes before the end of summer.

Barrasso and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee introduced the “S.P.U.R. Act” on Thursday.

“I think we need congressional will, right? We need Congress to agree that, hey, look, this red tape is not good for anybody. You can argue about the rules and that kind of thing, that’s fine. But once those are established and are in the hands of regulators, we need a process that goes quickly, smoothly and effectively and is cost-efficient,” said Steenbergen.

Steenbergen says that streamlining permitting doesn’t have to come at the cost of cutting protections. And that regulation shouldn’t punish good businesses or at the expense of doing business to protect from bad actors.

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