Will Gov. Walker sign Wisconsin hemp bill?

Posted: November 23, 2017 by Gary Storck
Category: Hemp

After SB119, bipartisan industrial hemp legislation cleared both houses in unanimous votes the same week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's spokesman Tom Evenson said he would review the bill but did not commit to signing it.

Under state law, once a bill is passed by both chambers, the Wisconsin governor has three options: veto it, sign it or do nothing. If the governor chooses to do nothing, the bill automatically becomes law 6 business days after they receive it.

Cannabadger reached out to the offices of some lawmakers very familiar with the bill regarding how this might play out. Here's what we learned. If Gov. Walker calls for the bill, that immediately kicks in the 6 business day time frame. If he does not call for the bill and instead waits to receive it, he then has six business days from when he would receive it, on Dec. 7, to take action, or SB119 automatically becomes law.

In the event of a veto by Walker, which seems very unlikely due to the fact SB119 passed the senate and assembly unanimously, the bill would need to again pass both houses by at least a two-thirds majority to override the veto.

A veto is also unlikely because of the broad support for the bill and the potential for alienating rural voters in Walker's upcoming 2018 reelection campaign, one office told us.

That source said the most likely outcome, due to the governor's discomfort with the issue, might be a "quiet signing" without fanfare.

If Walker chooses to do nothing, the six day period that starts Dec. 7 would end at the close of the business day on Friday Dec. 15 and SB119 would then become law without his signature.

There still are a lot of ifs involved so we shall see what happens in the coming days and weeks how this story unfolds.

Stay tuned for updates…