Senate Mining Jobs Committee Preps For Next Step

State Senator Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) is preparing the Senate Select Mining Jobs Committee for its next steps since the mining bill, AB426, was passed by the Assembly last week.

“As the focus of attention for proposed mining legislation now shifts to the State Senate, each member of the Senate Select Mining Jobs Committee is offering their due diligence to evaluate the merits and particulars of Assembly Bill 426, as well as the many issues raised over the last several months,” Kedzie says in a statement.

Kedzie is chairman of the committee and says he intends to review Wisconsin's current mining law, as well as similar laws in Michigan and Minnesota. He will also seek ideas from the committee's membership in an effort to “draft legislation which can be discussed and debated in the near future at public meetings,” he says.

“As I have stated previously, the Assembly bill is one option which may serve as the foundation for consideration by the Senate,” Kedzie says. “I am hopeful the committee can move expeditiously in crafting public policy which both Houses can embrace.”

On Monday Kedzie sent a letter to the committee's membership, asking for each member to bring concerns to him, “as well as any ideas to address and potentially resolve those concerns,” he wrote.

“It is also my intent to soon contact each committee member directly to discuss those matters, and any other issues, and provide a more detailed approach of how the committee will proceed in the days and weeks to come, as we work towards a goal of revising Wisconsin's metallic mining law,” Kedzie says.

State Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Kenosha) speculated on his Facebook page about the Senate review of the Assembly bill.

“The mining bill passes 59-36. It will likely die in the State Senate, from what we are hearing. At least 3 GOP Senators do not like the bill,” Pocan wrote, later refraining in a comment to name the senators' names.

“Rather than put too much out here (don't want to make them targets for the extreme right), let's just say I recommend working with Clean Wisconsin, League of Conservation Voters or Sierra Club to kill the bill in the Senate,” Pocan wrote.