MADISON (WKOW) -
The much-debated mining bill under consideration in the Wisconsin legislature is in jeopardy for this session, after a surprise decision from the Senate majority leader Wednesday.
Assembly Republicans and a special Senate mining committee have both offered bills that would reform the state's mining permit process to help Florida-based Gogebic Taconite dig an open-pit mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald hand-picked the mining committee, but he caught members by surprise Wednesday when he threw his support 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.
But the Assembly bill may not have enough support to pass in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 17-16 majority. One Republican, Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, told The Associated Press Wednesday he would not vote for the Assembly's version of the bill.
Schultz is a moderate who sat on the mining committee. He declined to comment about Sen. Fitzgerald's decision.
Gogebic Taconite officials have been sizing up the Penokee Hills for more than a year. They have promised the mine would create hundreds of jobs for economically repressed northwestern Wisconsin. But they've put the project on hold until legislators can guarantee a stopping point in the state's open-ended mine permit process.
Republicans eager to deliver on campaign promises to create jobs have been working for most of the past year on the mining proposal. But conservationists have rallied against the mine, warning it would pollute one of the most pristine regions in the state and hurt the area's tourism industry.
The legislative session ends on March 15. Gobetic Taconite President, Bill Williams, has hinted the company might pull up stakes if permit reforms don't solidify by then. He declined comment on Wednesday's developments.
