Wisconsin Republicans have killed over 500 of Gov. Evers’ proposals. Tony Evers (D), a Democratic candidate, made a number of proposals on Tuesday. These included a plan to legalize marijuana, pay for the Milwaukee Brewers stadium renovations and create a program that pays family leave, among other things. AP News reported.
Evers, who called it “foolish,” had suggested using Wisconsin’s $7 billion surplus budget to finance a variety of spending priorities for the state. Wisconsin Republican leaders rejected the idea. The members voted to remove Evers’s budget requests by a margin of 12-4.
Evers tweeted, “With an historic $7 billion surplus we have the responsibility and the opportunity to invest into needs that we’ve neglected for a long time and build the state we desire.” He then listed 540 priority items that had been rejected.
These aren’t radical ideas or controversial concepts or Republican or Democratic priority–these are about doing what’s right. “With a historical surplus comes a responsibility. And today, we have the means to spend more. This vote is foolish, and it’s a waste of an opportunity.
It’s not necessarily a shocking move, in regard to cannabis at least, since the Republican-controlled legislature has previously removed cannabis reform language from past budget proposals. Republican legislators in Wisconsin have also warned before that they will not permit a proposal for adult-use marijuana legalization to move forward.
Adults over 21 could have purchased and possessed up to 2 ounces cannabis for their personal use, and grown up to 6 plants. Department of Revenue was responsible for the regulation of the new cannabis industry and the issuance of business licenses to potential professionals.
Evers’s Office also calculated the state could generate $44.4 in “segregated taxes revenue” from the legal cannabis, and an increase of $10.2 in general state fund tax revenues in fiscal 2025 if this reform was enacted.
Evers is known to have pardoned a lot of people, including those who had committed low-level crimes and cannabis offences. Evers had pardoned 933 people in less than four years of office as of April 2023.
Evers stated that “it is one of my most rewarding aspects of being governor, to be able to give a new start to people who have made an effort to grow and learn from their mistakes in the past.”
It may also be déjà vu for Evers, since the governor included decriminalization of cannabis and medical marijuana in his proposal of 2019 and recreational and medical legalization of cannabis in his budget of 2021. All of the reforms were blocked by Republicans in the legislature.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said to the Associated Press last month that Republican legislators in the state are working privately to build support for a program to treat medical marijuana. The goal is to get bipartisan support and possibly pass the law this year. Vos has also stated that he does not support the legalization of recreational cannabis, and is against creating a medical marijuana program as a prelude to adult-use.
Wisconsin voters seem to be looking beyond the state. A Marquette Law School survey in August 2022 of 811 Wisconsin voters showed that legal cannabis was supported by both Republicans and Democrats. 51% of Republicans backed it, while 75% of Independents and 81% Democrats did. Sixty-nine percent of registered voters believe cannabis should be legal.
A stalling approach to cannabis legalization will also likely take away state revenue. In a report from earlier in the year, it was found that 50 percent of Wisconsinites aged 21 or older lived within 75 miles of an out of state cannabis retailer. This number is likely to rise as Minnesota moves closer to legalization.
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