The Wisconsin State Assembly passed the bill to streamline the issue of iron mining permits after hours of debate Thursday.
By differentiating iron ore mining from the mining of other metallic substances, the bill will lessen mining restrictions and make iron ore mining easier for companies like Flordia-based Gogebic Taconite, which hopes to open a mine in northern Wisconsin near Lake Superior.
Taconite and Gov. Scott Walker, among others who support the bill, say it will create hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin's manufacturing, transportation and service industries.
"Part of what we're doing with this bill is [creating job] certainty," Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Madison. "The bill is a great opportunity for the citizens of Wisconsin."
State Democrats against the bill cited the mining industry's potentially harmful effects on the environment, and had hoped to amend the bill before it passed.
"Environmental experts have repeatedly voiced their grave concerns over this bill as written," Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, D-Madison, said in a statement following the vote. "This legislation decimates Wisconsin citizens' right to clean air, land, groundwater, and waterways -allowing health-harming pollution and damage from toxic chemicals that are byproducts of large-scale iron ore strip mining."
The galleries were full of spectators throughout the session, some of whom periodically interrupted proceeding on the floor.
After several outbursts, the galleries were cleared. Rep. Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, Speaker Pro Temp, ruled to keep observers barred from the galleries.
The bill, which passed 59-36, will next appear before the Senate.
