Wis. Gov. Walker calls for passing mining bill
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker urged the state’s business leaders on Thursday to help him pressure the Legislature to pass a bill streamlining the process for opening an iron mine in northern Wisconsin.
Walker made the plea at the annual Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce business day gathering, which attracted about 1,000 business executives, lobbyists and others. After the speech, many of those in the audience wearing bright orange hats urging passage of the mining bill walked four blocks to the Capitol to lobby lawmakers.
Republicans eager to deliver on campaign promises to create jobs have been working on the mining proposal for most of the past year. Florida-based Gogebic Taconite wants to dig an open-pit mine in the Penokee Hills, just south of Lake Superior.
Conservationists have rallied against the mine, warning it would pollute one of the most pristine regions in the state. The result has been one of the most intense debates Wisconsin has seen in years over how to balance business and the environment.
One version of the bill passed the Assembly. A special mining committee created by Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald offered a different approach on Monday, but in a surprise move Wednesday, Fitzgerald dissolved that committee and got behind the Assembly bill.
“We can’t allow the clock to run out on a project that could mean a generation of good-paying jobs and revitalize an entire local economy,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.
However, the Assembly bill doesn’t appear to have enough votes to pass the Senate. Republicans hold a 17-16 majority, and Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, told The Associated Press he would not support the bill.
Walker urged the business leaders to do all they could to get the bill passed, noting that the mine developers promise to create thousands of jobs. He referenced the long history of mining in the state, memorialized by the image of a miner on the state flag.
He said there’s no better state than Wisconsin to “streamline the process for safe and environmentally sound mining.”
“With your help that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Walker said.
The legislative session ends on March 15. Company President Bill Williams has hinted the company might pull up stakes if permit reforms don’t solidify by then.
The Assembly version does away with contested case hearings, quasi-judicial proceedings that environmentalists often use to challenge permitting decisions. The bill also divides revenue from a state tax on ore sales 60-40 between local governments and the state, while the Senate version would have divided it 70-30. Currently all the proceeds go to local governments.
The Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee planned a Friday hearing on the Assembly bill. The Senate could take it up as soon as Tuesday.
State Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau, is sponsoring the bill in the Senate. She released a letter from state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp on Thursday in which Stepp said DNR believed the bill provides adequate environmental protections.
“If this bill can get a mining company to locate here and bring thousands of jobs that come with it while protecting the environment, we must do it,” Galloway said.