HAN1034_Vos_Transcript 

- 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.