Politics
Wisconsin GOP Lawmakers Reject Marijuana Legalization Amendments That Democrats Sought To Add To Budget
The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate and Assembly have rejected another attempt to legalize marijuana, defeating amendments to budget legislation that would have ended prohibition in the state and established new medical and recreational cannabis programs.
On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D) and 13 other Democratic senators filed the marijuana amendment to the spending legislation for the 2025–2027 fiscal biennium, SB 45, but it was tabled along with other unrelated Democratic-led proposals in an 18-15 vote.
On the Assembly side, the legalization amendment from Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D) and 43 other members was shot down in a 53-45 vote.
“I’ve got grass in my name, and that’s what we’re going to talk about right now,” Snodgrass said on the floor ahead of the vote. “How does $166 million sound to you? I know you guys like to cut, but how about some revenue? An analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau said that a full legalization plan in Wisconsin, it would give us an additional $166 million in revenue annually.”
“I really don’t understand why you guys don’t like money. I don’t understand why you’re comfortable giving it to Illinois and Michigan and Minnesota,” she said.
“Let’s get on the right side here. Forty-eight states have legalized in at least some capacity already,” Snodgrass continued. “And I don’t know if you guys pay attention, but that gray-haired woman in the church pew down from you, or the mom down the block with ovarian cancer, or the marketing professional that works at your chamber of commerce, or the general practice physician—and likely a good portion of the politicians in this room—are occasional consumers.”
“Ask any dispensary owner across the border how many Wisconsin cars are in their parking lot, and I don’t think any of us will be shocked by that. The hypocrisy really on the other side of the aisle on this—with the express support of legalization and then capitulation to the speaker on refusing to pass legalization, you guys don’t get to keep telling people that you support this if you leave it out of the budget and then you vote no on this amendment. Legalizing reduces state dollars being spent on incarceration. It is completely short-sighted. And frankly, when most people in this room probably have this in their bureau drawers to vote no on this, is hypocritical and short-sighted.”
Under current Wisconsin law, cannabis is illegal for both recreational and medical purposes. But Gov. Tony Evers (D) has routinely attempted to change that policy as part of his budget requests—and Democratic leaders have similarly pushed for reform.
Republicans in the legislature cut the marijuana provisions from a state budget proposal, as they’ve done in past sessions.
The amendments that lawmakers defeated on Wednesday would have allowed adults who are residents of Wisconsin to possess up to two ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants for personal use. Non-residents could have possessed up to a quarter-ounce of marijuana.
Cannabis producers would be subject to a 15 percent tax for wholesale transactions, and retailers would incur a 10 percent excise tax on cannabis products that are sold.
Evers previewed his plan to include marijuana legalization in his budget in January, while also arguing that residents of the state should be allowed to propose new laws by putting binding questions on the ballot—citing the fact that issues such as cannabis reform enjoy sizable bipartisan support while the GOP-controlled legislature has repeatedly refused to act.
He projected at the time that the change would result in “$58.1 million in revenue in fiscal year 2026-27 and growing amounts in future years.”
The legalization proposal would have imposed a 15 percent wholesale excise tax and a 10 percent retail excise tax on recreational cannabis products. It would additionally “create a process for individuals serving sentences or previously convicted of marijuana-related crimes to have an opportunity to repeal or reduce their sentences for nonviolent minor offenses.”
Companion bills that were filed in tandem with the governor’s budget request stipulated that all revenue collected from the proposed cannabis taxes will be deposited into the state general fund.
A poll released last month found that two in three Wisconsin voters support legalizing marijuana, consistent with the governor’s call for reform.
While marijuana reform has been consistently blocked in the GOP-controlled legislature, Evers recently said that if Democrats take control of the Assembly and Senate now that new “fair” district maps have been set, the state can “finally” legalize marijuana so that residents don’t have to go to neighboring Illinois to patronize its adult-use market.
“If we want to finally end the obstruction of Madison, we have to get to work—and we can’t wait. We have to start today,” he said. “If we want majorities that will finally get things done in the legislature, then our work starts right now.”
Hesselbein, the minority leader, also briefly touched on the issue at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s 2025 convention last month, saying “we will also legalize cannabis” among other priorities in the Democratic agenda if the party wins a legislative majority in next year’s elections.
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Despite Republicans’ move to cut legalization from the budget legislation, party leaders recently acknowledged that the debate over medical marijuana legalization is “not going to go away,” and there’s hope it can be resolved this session.
“I don’t think anyone is naive enough to think that marijuana and THC products aren’t present in the state of Wisconsin when they are readily available over state lines, so I think we need to come to an answer on this,” Assembly Majority Leader Rep. Tyler August (R) said in February. “I’m hopeful that we can.”
“If we’re going to call it medical marijuana, it needs to be treated like a pharmaceutical. But the marijuana debate is going to be something that is not going to go away,” Sen. Dan Feyen (R), the assistant majority leader, said at the time. “The margins are tighter.”
There have been repeated attempts to legalize medical marijuana in the legislature over recent years, including the introduction of legislation from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) that called for a limited program facilitated through state-run dispensaries. That proved controversial among his Republican colleagues, however, and it ultimately stalled out last year.
Evers previewed his plan to include marijuana legalization in his budget in January, while also arguing that residents of the state should be allowed to propose new laws by putting binding questions on the ballot—citing the fact that issues such as cannabis reform enjoy sizable bipartisan support while the GOP-controlled legislature has repeatedly refused to act.
Previously, in 2022, the governor signed an executive order to convene a special legislative session with the specific goal of giving people the right to put citizen initiatives on the ballot, raising hopes among advocates that cannabis legalization could eventually be decided by voters. The GOP legislature did not adopt the proposal, however.
Evers said in December that marijuana reform is one of several key priorities the state should pursue in the 2025 session, as lawmakers work with a budget surplus.
Days after he made the remarks, a survey found the reform would be welcomed by voters in rural parts of the state. Nearly two thirds (65 percent) said they support legalizing cannabis.
Last May, the governor said he was “hopeful” that the November 2024 election would lead to Democratic control of the legislature, in part because he argued it would position the state to finally legalize cannabis.
“We’ve been working hard over the last five years, several budgets, to make that happen,” he said at the time. “I know we’re surrounded by states with recreational marijuana, and we’re going to continue to do it.”
A Wisconsin Democratic Assemblymember tried to force a vote on a medical cannabis compromise proposal last year, as an amendment to an unrelated kratom bill, but he told Marijuana Moment he suspects leadership intentionally pulled that legislation from the agenda at the last minute to avoid a showdown on the issue.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of the economic impact of a legalization bill from then-Sen. Melissa Agard (D) in 2023, projecting that the reform would generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue.
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.
Evers and other Democrats have since at least last January insisted that they would be willing to enact a modest medical marijuana program, even if they’d prefer more comprehensive reform.
