Bill De-Regulating WI Mining Rests On Internal Trick
All hail the Wisconsin Republican party, The New Statists, and their legislating tricksters.
Exhibit "A" - - Their outrageous special interest bill to strip local governments in Wisconsin of their ability to regulate sand mining that plays fast and loose with language, too.
The bill - - which may get a mild re-write before a full-scale legislative push in 2014 while retaining its essential statist grabbiness - - says local governments can control mining through zoning.
But many towns with these water-sucking, dust-creating, traffic-snarling mines in their midst have limited or zero zoning powers, and state legislators know this.
You didn't hear that line when Democrats ran state government; then the GOP was all about local control - - because that's where the peopleknow used to know best.
Like people in Milwaukee. Or on a pre-Act 10 municipal/union bargaining committee.
And you still don't hear it when it comes to education and school policy, and the role of the State Department of Public Instruction, an office Republicans have not yet captured for a fresh infusion of their special kind of certainty.
Like a DNR now run by corporate insiders, for example.
The push to de-regulate sand mining is shameful situational, unprincipled and big money special-interest legislating.
But many towns with these water-sucking, dust-creating, traffic-snarling mines in their midst have limited or zero zoning powers, and state legislators know this.
The measure would affect counties and all types of municipalities, but would have have the greatest impact on towns. About 240 townships do not currently have zoning authority, and many of those are in western Wisconsin where sand mining has proliferated in recent years, according to the Wisconsin Towns Association.Republicans in the Walker corporatist era keep saying that all they and their business enablers want is the kind of regulatory "certainty" that only the state government can provide.
You didn't hear that line when Democrats ran state government; then the GOP was all about local control - - because that's where the people
Like people in Milwaukee. Or on a pre-Act 10 municipal/union bargaining committee.
And you still don't hear it when it comes to education and school policy, and the role of the State Department of Public Instruction, an office Republicans have not yet captured for a fresh infusion of their special kind of certainty.
Like a DNR now run by corporate insiders, for example.
The push to de-regulate sand mining is shameful situational, unprincipled and big money special-interest legislating.
3 comments:
Whenever they legislate "CERTAINTY" the public and the taxpayer are certain to get screwed. They told local school boards to give a "CERTAIN" amount of compensation for teaching and this "CERTAINLY" drove many teachers from the profession. Their idea of "CERTAINTY" is that donor dollars dictate policy not people nor local entities.
I'm curious about the timing strategy here. Why wait until next year, an election year? Why not ram it through now so people will 'forget' by the time elections roll around?
The towns are heavily Republicans and know this bill will wreck their quality of life. The bill as written would die. So look for cosmetic changes, though it could go the way of the forest-closing bill.
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