- Senate majority leader.
Fitzgerald says the next step
in the process is amendments and motions
in the joint finance committee,
Republican representative Robin Vos
is co-chair of that body.
And so far opposed to the Schultz J alternative.
He joins us now from Kenosha
and representative Vos, thanks very much for doing so.
- Yeah. Good evening Frederica
- Well
don't you have to give a little to get this thing passed.
- There's no doubt that we have been giving
ever since this process began.
If you remember the way the original bill was introduced
there were significant changes that were made all
throughout the assembly process
including increasing how much money
was gonna stay at the locals.
Instead of being shared with the state
trying to make sure that we had every opportunity to listen
to the public input at all the hearings that we had.
And I think we really had a good bill that showed movement
toward the side who had concerns about the bill.
I am optimistic that the bill proposed
by Senator Schultz is a good starting point.
I think they have some creative ideas in there
but I certainly hope that just like I am not assuming
that our assembly bill is the final package.
I certainly hope that they don't have
that same belief either.
- What is your biggest problem
with the latest alternative by Senator Schultz and J
- I think that if you look
at the way that they have their proposal drafted
they have made almost no changes to some of the overly
excessive regulations that have hampered the growth
of this industry for really the past 30 or 40 years.
We know that the companies that are looking
to come here along with a DNR
who was always involved in this process
have really tried to create a product
that is gonna always protect the environment
as the first priority, but allow a real opportunity
for those thousand jobs to come here to Wisconsin
and not just have a political document
where we passed something saying we tried
but then the jobs never materialized.
- What has the mining company expressed
to you about how this process is proceeding at this point?
- I haven't had a lot of discussions
with the mining company to be quite honest
but I have had discussions
with legislators all around the capital
and I've also had an opportunity to listen to the public.
And I think people want to ensure
that we have a fair process,
but in the end as I've said before,
I don't want to go through an entirely false process
where we feel like we're trying to make progress
but we don't actually pass a bill
that helps to bring those 1000 plus jobs here to Wisconsin.
You know, our state's the home
of many of the world's largest mining companies.
And we know that we have been able to do it in Minnesota
and Michigan in an environmentally positive way.
I think that we are just as good
if not better than both of those two states.
I know we have a great workforce.
We have a dedicated government who wants to make sure
we have every single job possible here.
So I'm trying to be an optimist
that will be able to find a compromise
that everyone can live with.
- Well, if you were to start negotiating to
craft a bill that would pass
with a majority of the Senate and the assembly
where would you start with what you've got to work with now?
- Well, I think the assembly bill
that was passed is a good document.
We put a lot of time into it.
There was over 25 hours of public hearings
where they took testimony from all around the state,
from people in Southeastern Wisconsin
near where I live all the way up to Hurley
where the mine is gonna be located.
So I think they put a lot of time and effort into it.
They really became experts on the document.
Now I won't say that everything in the assembly bill
is, you know, a final version
but I certainly think it was a really good place to start.
So I'm optimistic that we'll be able to take the areas
in the assembly bill that really raise objections
for those senators who want to vote for a mining bill.
And that will be able to have one that still
brings those thousand jobs here.
- Would one of those items include
for example, the contested case hearings
- Contested case is a topic
that's caused quite a bit of controversy.
I think that the idea behind a contested case
so that every citizen has a right
to have all the facts put on the table
to make sure they clearly understand where the process is.
To some extent I understand the need for that,
but I think in the past, the contested case hearing
was really just a very expensive delaying tactic,
which meant that you never actually
got the mining company to open up the mining,
create the jobs.
So if we can create a contested case process
that allows for citizen input
and to make sure that everything is done
in a way where we know all the facts are on the table.
I think that's something we could look at,
but if it's just another way to delay
and to try to stop a mine,
I don't think that's really the purpose
- Representative Vos, thanks very much for joining us.
- I look forward to it, hoping we can find some common sense
and a bipartisan compromise.
- Thank you.