Senate Committee On Mining Dissolved; Platteville Hearing Canceled

[UPDATED2] State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) dissolved the senate committee that had recently released a draft version of a mining bill. A hearing on the bill was scheduled to take place in Platteville on Friday, but the hearing has been canceled.

Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) had said a second hearing on the bill would be held in Ashland, possibly next week, but that hearing appears to be in doubt. Jauch has expressed concerns with the draft bill released by the mining committee.

"Senator Fitzgerald’s decision to abruptly disband this committee is a clear sign that he was afraid that this group of legislators would put together a reasonable alternative to the irresponsible bill put forward by his brother," Jauch said in a statement. "His action is nothing short of a declaration of war on responsible government."

Instead of being considered first by the Select Senate Committee on Mining Jobs, mining legislation will go to the the Senate Joint Finance Committee. The Joint Finance Committee is expected to take up the mining bill adopted last month by the state Assembly, according to Fitzgerald spokesman Andrew Welhouse.

Welhouse today said the Joint Finance Committee was working to set a time and location for a hearing on mining legislation.  As of this evening, that time and location is Fri., Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. in 312 East at the State Capitol in Madison, where a hearing will be held on Assembly Bill 426, according to an announcement by Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Robin Vos.

Welhouse said Fitzgerald is concerned that the senate's session will end March 15 before the senate has a chance to adopt mining legislation. In a statement issued Wednesday, Fitzgerald said that “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.”

In his statement, Fitzgerald accused Democrats of opposing legislation for “the sake of opposing it.” “Sadly, we’re stuck in a hyper‐political world where the Democrats are likely to say and do anything to oppose this jobs bill, just for the sake of opposing it,” he stated.

Sen. Neal Kedzie, the former chairman of the senate committee, said he was in agreement with the committee's dissolution in moving the mining legislation forward.

"A few months ago, a decision was made to create a special committee to review and discuss issues relating to Wisconsin’s mining law. Today, a decision has been made which reflects the majority of members in the Senate Republican caucus to change course and move the Assembly legislation and a Senate companion bill through another standing committee," Kedzie said in a statement. "As a caucus, we need to move forward on this issue before the legislative session comes to a close."

Updated to include comment from Kedzie and Jauch.  Second update includes information about Joint Finance Committee hearing.