Bipartisan lawmakers had proposed the funding to improve infrastructure in Wakefield Township and the wider Gogebic County area, aiming to support Canada-owned Highland Copper’s Copperwood project. In the final budget, however, that allocation was removed. The decision followed significant pushback from residents, environmental groups, and local watchdogs who raised concerns about the project’s impact on the area and subsidizing a foreign company for a mine next to and underneath their beloved forest.

A thin veneer of economic justification.

MORE NEWS: Flint Moves to Prohibit On-the-Job Drug Use for Elected Leaders

Proponents claimed the mine would bring good jobs and tax revenue. But if you’re asking Michigan taxpayers to foot $50 million in upgrades (roads, power lines, water systems, etc.), you need to have ironclad projections – and critics haven’t been shy about pointing out that the upside was speculative at best, especially compared to the environmental risks.

Environmental alarms and local pushback.

Many factors have driven opposition to the project, but the most significant is its proximity to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and Lake Superior. Opponents warn that seepage – or worse – could contaminate water sources and damage fragile ecosystems. Grassroots coalition Protect the Porkies amassed more than 468,000 petition signatures opposing the mine on change.org.

What this budget omission appears to signal.

Leaving the mining subsidy out of the budget appears to be a signal that lawmakers are finally getting the message from their voters that public money shouldn’t serve as a source for corporate handouts.

Unfortunately for the Upper Peninsula, however, this loss of revenue doesn’t guarantee the mine is dead as proponents quickly pledged to find alternative funding. Those looking to push the project forward said recently in a press release, “We’re not slowing down.” But for now, the state has said “no,” and that means that, at the very least, taxpayers won’t be footing the bill for something the community keeps saying no to.