Wisconsin State Legislature

Politics	Republican legislative gerrymandering may blunt Wisconsin voters support of cannabis legalization November 27, 2018 - In less than six weeks, on Jan. 7, 2019, Gov. Scott Walker will leave office and Gov.-elect Tony Evers will be sworn in as Wisconsin’s 46th governor, Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul, other state elected officials and lawmakers will be sworn in as well as the new legislative session begins. I have been analyzing results from the Nov. 6 elections, and despite all 18 city and county cannabis...
Hemp	Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs industrial hemp bill in Capitol ceremony November 30, 2017 - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker today signed into law 2017 Senate Bill 119, regarding industrial hemp production, at a signing ceremony at the Capitol, making the state the 34th to allow farmers to grow hemp.. The bill's signing today followed unanimous votes in both houses the same week, the senate passing it Nov. 7 in a 33-0 vote and the Assembly following suit Nov. 9 in a 92-0 vote. The bill...
Legalization	LRB-2457 gets Assembly bill number, committee assignment August 25, 2017 - Rep. Melissa Sargent's cannabis legalization proposal 2017 LRB-2457 has been formally introduced as Assembly Bill 482 as of Aug. 24, and assigned to the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. (PDF of AB 482) So far, in addition to Rep. Sargent, AB 482 has 14 assembly cosponsors and 3 state senate sponsors, all Democrats: Representatives Melissa Sargent, Tod Ohnstad, Chris Taylor...
Medical	Erpenbach/Taylor set Monday press conference for MMJ bill and referendum February 5, 2017 - Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) have scheduled a press conference for 10:00am Monday, Feb. 6 in the Capitol’s Assembly Parlor to formally launch their new medical cannabis legislation along with their resolution to place a statewide advisory referendum about medical cannabis on Nov. 2018 ballots. The Assembly Parlor is located off to the left of the Assembly...
CBD	Senate CBD bill heads for floor vote, Assembly version introduced February 3, 2017 - An executive session was held Feb. 2 on Senate Bill 10 in the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety after the Jan. 31 public hearing. The vote was 4-0, and having passed out of committee SB10 is available for scheduling for a Senate floor vote. Sens. Wanggaard, Testin, L. Taylor and Risser voted in favor. State Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, was excused from the vote. Stroebel was...
Legalization	Walker not interested in legalization says neither are most lawmakers January 8, 2017 - With the start of the new legislative session, there has been a flood of articles about cannabis and Wisconsin. Among them I discovered a real nugget in a story from the Wisconsin Radio Network (WRN) January 6, by Andrew Beckett, “Governor Scott Walker open to improving access to CBD oil,” discussing the proposal being sponsored again by Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine). Incidentally, Wanggaard was...
Politics	GOP Leaders Split Over Medical Pot January 4, 2017 - The Associated Press reports Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Tuesday, the first day of the 2017-2018 legislative session, that he was open to the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana. “For me – and I can only speak for myself, I cannot speak for anyone else in our caucus because we haven’t done that. But if you get a prescription to use an opiate or you get a prescription to use...
History	2016 Cannabadger Wisconsin Year in Cannabis Review December 14, 2016 - 2016 marked another difficult year for cannabis legalization in Wisconsin. With all branches of state government under the control of Republicans who have shown little interest in cannabis for six years and counting, progress at the state level was again stymied. With any forward progress impossible at the state level, cannabis activists once again concentrated on local efforts, with mixed...
Hemp	Bipartisan Wisconsin Industrial Hemp bill gets bill number and committee assignment May 15, 2015 - Wisconsin’s bipartisan hemp bill, which was rolled out at a May 6 Capitol press conference, has been formally introduced. Assembly Bill 215 has been assigned to the Committee on State Affairs and Government Operations. At the press conference, lead sponsor Rep. Dave Considine had expressed the hope the bill would go the Committee on Agriculture, of which he is a member. AB215 is sponsored by a record...