In a 17-16 vote, the controversial Wisconsin mining bill passed through the state senate Wednesday night.

Lawmakers in Madison spent the entire day debating the bill that would change the process for approving iron ore mining operations.

The legislation in question, Senate Bill One, has been praised by the majority for streamlining the permitting processing while keeping most environmental standards intact.

But Democrats are critical of the bill, saying it resembles the Assembly Bill that was shot down last year.

The bill now moves on to the Wisconsin Assembly.

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