WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, today announced that the committee has unanimously approved a six-year highway program reauthorization bill.

“This measure clears the way for important highway construction projects in Mississippi and across the country,” Wicker said. “Our transportation infrastructure is a critical component of our economy. Investing in our nation’s transportation corridors is imperative to staying competitive in today’s global market. It also empowers state and local governments by providing them with certainty and stability to make long-term infrastructure improvements.”

The bill, S. 2322, provides strategic funding for comprehensive transportation reforms and construction projects. In FY2014, Mississippi received an apportionment of more than $466 million for surface transportation. Under the new proposal, the state would receive up to $526 million by FY2020.

Wicker worked successfully with Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md., to include an amendment in the bill to reauthorize the “Appalachian Regional Development Act.” The amendment authorizes funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) at 2012 spending levels of $110 million for the next four fiscal years.

“ARC has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Americans living in the most impoverished areas of this country,” Wicker continued. “Since its inception, the poverty rate in Appalachia has dropped steadily. In fact, from 1970 to 2000, the region’s poverty decreased by 4.1 percent, while the national poverty rate decreased by only 1.3 percent.

“The agency recently proved its worth in the aftermath of the storms that ravaged our state last month by swiftly delivering aid to those affected. It is vital that Congress continues to fund this very important program.”

Mississippi has 24 counties within ARC’s province, and 16 of those counties are currently considered “distressed.” This means that nearly 20 percent of Mississippi’s counties have poverty rates and unemployment rates that are twice as high as the national average. These counties have per capita market incomes that are 67 percent of the national average.

S. 2322 will now go to the full Senate for consideration, where it will be combined with measures from the Senate Committee on Finance; Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.