Concerns of citizens ignored by Republican legislators for Strip Mine Giveaway Bill
STEVENS POINT – Following today’s Executive Session on the Strip Mine Giveaway Bill, Assembly Bill 426, Representative Louis J. Molepske Jr. released the following statement:
“I am deeply disappointed that the Republican members of the Jobs Committee voted to pass AB 426 out of committee today. This bill has been fundamentally flawed from the beginning and today’s amendments make no meaningful change to it. We need to scrap AB 426 and start over with a meaningful conversation about mining in our state, with all stakeholders at the table.
“It is telling that no legislator is willing to put their name on the Strip Mine Giveaway Bill. This flawed bill has proceeded via a truly flawed process. The Jobs Committee wasn’t even going to hold a public hearing in the northern part of our state until there was a public outcry. And unfortunately, the amendments discussed in committee today suggest that my Republican colleagues didn’t fully comprehend the priorities, concerns and requests of the hundreds of people that testified on this bill. This bill still guts environmental protections at a potential mine site, takes away citizens’ input and rights in the permitting process, and skims 40% of the net proceeds tax revenue away from local communities and puts it directly into state coffers. This bill is unpalatable, plain and simple.
“Republicans have rushed the Strip Mine Giveaway Bill through the legislative process in the name of efficiency and streamlining. Yet testimony revealed that AB 426 would add confusion, duplication and the possibility for legal challenges into Wisconsin’s mine permitting system. Tribes throughout Wisconsin are sovereign nations and would be well within their rights to mount legal challenges in federal court. In addition, any mine applicant would need federal approval along with state approval and this bill threatens to force permit applicants to go through a duplicate process at the federal level. I can’t think of any applicant who would want to get one permit from Wisconsin, then try to get another permit from a federal government office in St. Paul, and still face a possible legal battle with a nearby sovereign nation.
“As I’ve been saying from the beginning, we need to scrap this bill and start over from scratch. This is a short-sighted bill that should not have been voted out of committee. Instead, we should start the process completely over so that legislators and invested parties can work together to come up with a well thought-out bill. I’m relieved to see that the Senate isn’t rushing a bill just for the sake of passing something.”
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