Politics
Top Wisconsin Lawmakers Say The State Will Legalize Marijuana Under New Democratic Control
Democratic leaders in Wisconsin’s Assembly and Senate say the state is poised to legalize marijuana now that their party won majority control of the legislature in this week’s elections while also installing a new pro-legalization governor from the party.
“We know that legalization of marijuana is very popular in the state of Wisconsin, and we intend to listen to the voters of Wisconsin and the people of our state and legalize marijuana in the coming year to two years,” Rep. Greta Neubauer (D), who currently serves as Assembly minority leader and is poised to become speaker in the new session, said.
Democrats, including Gov.-elect David Crowley (D), have discussed the opportunity to use tax revenue generated by legal cannabis sales to fund education and healthcare initiatives.
“We do hope to raise some revenues from marijuana legalization,” Neubauer told WKOW-TV on Wednesday.
Outgoing Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Democratic legislative leaders have pushed for legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use for years, but have been stymied by Republican majorities.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D), who serves as chair of the Democratic Caucus, said he is “very optimistic about the possibility of marijuana being legalized” under the legislature’s new composition following Tuesday’s midterm elections. “I think we’re going to be able to get it done.”
“Representing a border community where we have Illinois with multiple dispensaries just a couple of miles from my house in Beloit, and we’re seeing our tax dollars go across the border,” he told WISN-TV on Wednesday. “I know that being an island of prohibition surrounded by legalization is not good for Wisconsin.”
Sen. Chris Larson (D) added that “most of the country has figured it out, and we are just giving away $40 million across the border for bad policy.”
“We have to make sure that we have the common sense pieces in place—of what the labeling is, of what the age limits are, of what it means to operate a vehicle, which you can’t,” he said.
Larson also said it is important for the state’s framework to favor “homegrown businesses” so that the market is not comprised of operators from “all of the states that have figured it out coming in here and taking up root.”
Crowley, the incoming governor, said at a debate last month that “we have to go towards full legalization because this is opportunity that we’re missing out on as a state,” cautioning that he also wants to “make sure that we have guardrails in place” to protect children and ensure accurate labeling on cannabis products.
He said that “if we were to go to full legalization, we could bring in anywhere between $80-170 million, helping to invest in healthcare all across the state of Wisconsin without allowing our money—nor these opportunities—to go to Illinois, Minnesota or Michigan.”
Crowley separately said earlier last month that Wisconsin should legalize marijuana to raise revenue that can be used to fund free pre-kindergarten education and an expansion of healthcare access.
Evers, the outgoing governor, has pushed to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes for years, but those proposals have been blocked by the legislature’s Republican majority.
A limited medical cannabis bill did clear one committee this session, but did not advance further.
Crowley said at a forum hosted by a cannabis reform group earlier this year reform supporters “cannot wait until after the governor’s election” to push the issue, arguing that they need to “organize in making this one of the top priorities in this upcoming election.”
“If you can’t change minds, you have to change faces,” he said. “I want you all to know that we’re going to work directly with you and make sure that you have a seat at the table, because if you don’t have a seat at the table, that means you’re on it.”
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Democratic lawmakers filed legislation in the 2026 session to broadly legalize and regulate marijuana, and bipartisan legislation to simply decriminalize cannabis possession was also filed—but neither proposal advanced.
A poll released last year by Marquette Law School found that two in three Wisconsin voters support legalizing marijuana.
A legislative analysis requested by lawmakers estimated that Wisconsin residents spent more than $121 million on cannabis in Illinois alone in 2022, contributing $36 million in tax revenue to the neighboring state.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of the economic impact of a legalization bill in 2023, projecting that the reform would generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue.
