The state Joint Finance Committee passed a contentious mining bill on a party-line vote at its meeting Monday.
The bill, which would make it easier for companies to secure a mining permit in Wisconsin, passed on a 12-to-4 vote.
JFC co-chairs state Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and state Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, released a statement Monday supporting the bill, which they say will “protect the environment and create good paying jobs in an area that desperately needs them.”
“There is over 80 years of mining history in Northern Wisconsin, and the environment is as beautiful and pristine today as it was back then,” the legislators said in the release.
The bill is slated for consideration in both the state Senate and Assembly. Republicans hold the majority of seats in both houses of the legislature.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, expressed confidence the bill will pass in the Assembly next week in a Monday release.
“This bill provides businesses a level of certainty that they need in order to invest in Wisconsin and our workforce,” Vos said in the statement.
But state Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, criticized the bill in a press release, saying Republican legislators “are determined to fast-track this flawed, open-pit mining bill,” with Senate consideration as early as Wednesday.
“Rather than letting special interests write their own set of rules, we need to take a balanced and commonsense approach to protect taxpayers, local communities, and our natural resources,” Shilling said in the release.
