BEND, OR -- U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) spoke to county commissioners from around the state, Monday, during the Association of Oregon Counties' annual meeting at the Riverhouse Convention Center in Bend.

The Oregon Democrat promised county leaders a fix for wildfire funding is coming. "We are going to fix this in September. We are going to end fire borrowing and going to make sure we move forward on what counties have long wanted: Fire prevention." Sen. Wyden has sponsored legislation that would allow agencies to pay for fighting the largest wildfires through natural disaster funds, like those used for hurricanes and tornadoes. Currently, Wyden says 1% of the biggest fires consume about 30% of the federal fire budget.

Senator Wyden also talked about infrastructure. Congress failed to pass a transportation funding package, similar to state lawmakers; however, they did approve a two-month extension. "You cannot have big league economic growth with little league infrastructure. We've got potholes and other infrastructure problems all over the state. Congress has, over my opposition, punted this. But, we're looking to dealing with this at the end of the year." One of the sticking points is coming up with funds to put toward the highway trust fund. It's estimated $15 billion a year is necessary to fund necessary highway work.