MADISON (WKOW) --The Legislature's finance committee will hold a public hearing on Friday on the much-debated mining bill. The bill would jumpstart an iron mine in northwestern Wisconsin.
Florida-based Gogebic Taconite wants to dig an open-pit mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior.
Company officials 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.
Assembly Republicans have passed a measure that would require a permitting decision within a year, eliminate contested case hearings and cap application fees at $2 million.
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.
The finance committee hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Friday morning at the State Capitol.
