WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said he believes the infrastructure plan outlined by President Donald Trump is “a good starting point,” and that he hopes both parties will work together on the issue in coming weeks.

“By rebuilding our aging infrastructure and improving job training programs targeted toward in-demand infrastructure-related jobs, we have a great opportunity to further strengthen our economy,” Portman said in a news release. “I am also glad to see the administration is making infrastructure permitting reform a priority.”

Portman highlighted his own work on the issue.

“I’ve led efforts in the Senate to streamline our permitting process, working to enact FAST-41 so we can rebuild our infrastructure more quickly,” he said. “With a permitting process that makes sense and operates efficiently, we can put more people back to work, improve our infrastructure, and better protect the environment.”

Trump unveiled an infrastructure plan on Monday that authorizes $200 billion in federal funds for projects.

The $1.5 trillion proposal fulfills a number of campaign goals, but relies heavily on state and local governments to produce much of the funding.

Officials said the $200 billion in federal support would come from cuts to existing programs.

Half the money would go to grants for transportation, water, flood control, cleanup at some of the country’s most polluted sites and other projects.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story