Sen. Zipperer To Serve on Mining Committee

With a company seeking to build a new iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin, state Republican senators have created a new committee to review state mining laws.

State Sen. Rich Zipperer (R-Pewaukee), whose district includes parts of Brookfield, Waukesha and Sussex, was one of four GOP members named to the Senate Select Committee on Mining Jobs.

Also appointed were Senators Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn), Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay).

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said the mining could bring valuable jobs, despite opposition from environmentalists and an Indian tribe to the proposal in Iron and Ashland counties.

“If we’re serious about job creation, we owe it to our state to take a look at different and new ways to create jobs. Mining has the potential to create good-paying, multi-generational jobs in a part of the state that desperately needs it, so I expect these senators to take a serious look at the issue."

See an opinion column Zipperer wrote on mining issues, published on JSOnline.com.