Republican state Sens. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, Mary Williams, R-Medford, and Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, introduced the first draft of a bill to streamline the mine permitting process in the state of Wisconsin at a press conference Wednesday morning, prompting criticism from Democratic legislators.
The bill, which closely resembles the Joint Finance Committee bill that failed to pass in the state Senate last session, has been reintroduced largely in its original form, with minor changes to accommodate new environmental restrictions passed at the end of the last legislative session.
Tiffany said the new bill aims to strengthen the mine permitting process within the state by “bring[ing] certainty and predictability to the permitting process.”
The Republican state senators said the most important part of the bill is the jobs it would create across the state. According to the group, the legislation would lead to a higher number of jobs not only in northern Wisconsin, where potential mines would be located, but also in other areas of Wisconsin, specifically the southeast region where the largest mining equipment companies in the country are based.
Honadel, who represents the South Milwaukee district where multiple companies are based, said the opening of northern mines, which would only be possible with a streamlined permitting process, would be “crucial for the state economy.”
“[The legislation] doesn’t affect just one portion of our state,” Honadel said. “This affects our entire state.”
Tiffany added mines would help to “rejuvenate” manufacturing in Wisconsin, a state whose history is rooted in mining.
However, Democrats in the legislature released statements Wednesday criticizing Republicans for the allegedly partisan bill.
State Democrats’ main criticism is the current draft was released without including any measures proposed by state Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, after Cullen discussed environmental concerns about the previously failed bill with bipartisan committees earlier this year.
Democrats also contended that even if the bill were signed into law later this year, any major employment growth resulting from the mine would come, at the earliest, two years down the road. This best-case scenario is unlikely, according to state Democrats, because of potential legal trouble stemming from threatened lawsuits by the Bad River Indian Tribe, which is concerned the mining would negatively affect its reservation lands.
In response to Democrats’ concerns, Suder stressed Republicans have only submitted a draft of the bill, leaving plenty of time for the entire state legislature to come to a bipartisan consensus.
“We will have an open and transparent process as we go along,” Suder said. “Anyone who wants to comment on these issues, our doors are wide open.”
