GOP leader opposes new tax on Wis. iron mine

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The state Senate's top Republican says he's against imposing a so-called tonnage tax on a company looking to open an iron mine in far northwestern Wisconsin.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said during an address at a Madison business convention Wednesday some Republican senators have been talking about including the tax in a massive bill that would overhaul Wisconsin's mining regulations. The tax would require iron mining companies to pay taxes according to how much iron they extract.

Fitzgerald says the tax would signal mining isn't welcome in Wisconsin and Gov. Scott Walker almost certainly would veto any bill that contains it.

The bill is designed to ease the regulatory path for Gogebic Taconite's plans for a massive iron mine just south of Lake Superior.