Wisconsin Republicans Remove Marijuana Legalization from State Budget

8 May 2025

Wisconsin’s Republican-led Joint Finance Committee once again stripped Governor Tony Evers’ plan to legalize marijuana from the state budget—keeping cannabis illegal in the state, despite strong public support and mounting economic pressure.

Meeting in Madison, the committee voted along party lines to remove hundreds of items from Evers’ two-year budget proposal, including his latest push to legalize both recreational and medical cannabis. This marks the second budget cycle in a row where GOP lawmakers have rejected similar reforms, even as neighboring states cash in on legal weed.

Evers’ plan would have regulated marijuana like alcohol, allowed adults to grow and possess cannabis, and created a medical program for patients. It also included a framework for taxing cannabis sales, projected to bring in over $58 million by 2026–27. The proposal would have provided a pathway to clear past nonviolent cannabis convictions and shared tax revenue with Wisconsin’s tribal nations.

But Republicans shot it down, again ignoring polling that shows that more than 60% of Wisconsin residents support legalization. Meanwhile, Wisconsinites spent an estimated $121 million on cannabis across the border in Illinois, sending $36 million in tax revenue out of state.

The committee also blocked Evers’ proposal to regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids like delta-8 and delta-10 THC, leaving those products in a legal gray zone with little oversight.