2026 Marijuana Legalization Bill Co-Sponsorship Analysis
Wisconsin Democrats have drawn a clear line heading into the 2026 election cycle — and they are unified!
The 2026 cannabis legalization proposal (Wisconsin Senate Bill 1045) launched with overwhelming Democratic support. In the Senate, 14 out of 15 Democratic Senators signed on as co-sponsors. The lone holdout? Veteran Senator Bob Wirch, who declined to join his caucus on the bill, but still supports legalization based off past conversations with his office.In the Assembly, the support was also strong: 33 of 45 Democratic Representatives co-sponsored the legislation. That level of party unity signals that legalization is no longer a fringe issue inside the Democratic caucus — it’s mainstream policy. The 11 Democrats missing on this bill are: Representatives Sylvia Ortiz‑Vélez, Russell Goodwin, Robin Vining (running for Senate), Joe Sheehan, Joan Fitzgerald, Jenna Jacobson (running for Senate), Tip McGuire, Greta Neubauer (Assembly Minority Leader), Lisa Subeck (Assembly Minority Caucus Chair), Jodi Emerson (Minority Caucus Sergeant at Arms), Steve Doyle and Jill Billings. Based off my comprehensive 2024 Election Coverage, all of the Democrats not listed as co-sponsors have indicated they would vote YES and support reform measures should it each their desks!
Zero Republican Support
Not a single Republican legislator signed onto Senate Bill 1045.
Even more telling, Republican leadership referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs — chaired by Chris Kapenga, with Vice-Chair André Jacque and member Steve Nass (announced retirement) — lawmakers widely viewed as firm prohibitionists
Translation: the bill is headed to what advocates are already calling the “committee of cannabis death.”
With no Republican co-sponsorship and no indication of bipartisan negotiation, the message from GOP leadership appears unmistakable heading into 2026: “marijuana” legalization is not on their agenda.
The Hemp Bills Were the Preview
If this feels familiar, it should. Bills introduced just to die in committee. This session is a repeat of the session prior, just with a few more bills in the mix!
The recent attempt at controversial hemp overhaul stalled out — Wisconsin Assembly Bill 606 / Wisconsin Senate Bill 681 (Three Tier) — introduced by Rob Swearingen, offered a glimpse into how Republicans approach cannabinoid regulation.
The AB 606/SB 681 proposal centered on a tightly controlled system and taxation that many in the hemp industry argued would have favored the alcohol distribution model and entrenched Class A and B liquor establishments into the cannabinoid marketplace.
Prohibitionists mounted an attack similar to the feds to redefine hemp; while an additional fraction of the Republican Caucus tried to reign in hemp through a consumer safety style bill we referred to as the Testin/Kurtz HDC (Hemp Derived Cannabinoid Bill).
Dive Deep Into The Numbers
Note worthy though is the number of Republicans that signed onto either of the HDC Regulation bills, be it Three Tier or Consumer Safety. Do you know the total so far? Two (2) Senators and seven (9) Assembly Reps on SB 682/AB 747, while SB 681/AB 606 had three (3) other Republican Senators and fifteen (15) others in the Assembly. Additional side note: Rep. Dean Kaufert (R) and Rep. Duke Tucker were on both hemp reg bills, while both Rep Bob Donovan and Rep David Murphy (retiring) showed up on the “hemp ban bill” and a “hemp regulation bill”; which really makes no sense for them to co-sponsor bills designed to do the opposite of each other. Murphy has yet to clarify his stance before going out of office and Rep. Donovan might be making a play for the Assembly Speaker position currently held by Vos (retiring).
In addition to the five (5) Republican Senators the officially co-sponsored one of the two hemp derived cannabinoid bills above, an additional five (5) Republican Senators (Stafsholt, Marklein, LeMahieu, Cabral-Guevara, Felzkowski) indicated support for some sort of reform. Ten (10) out of Eighteen is jut not enough! The eight (8) others can be classified into two categories:
- Hemp Ban Bill Authors: Senators Kapenga, Nass, Jacque and Wanggaard.
- Uncommitted: Senators Jagler, Hutton, Feyen, Bradley.
On the Assembly side of the coin twenty three (23) Assembly Reps put their names on one of the two hemp reg bills.
- Hemp Ban Bill Authors (6): Brill, Gundrum, Maxey, O’Connor, Piwowarczyk, Wichgers, Dittrich, Behnke, Donovan and Murphy – but remember Murphy and Donovan showed up on the hemp reg bills, and Dittrich and Behnke indicated they may also support regulation vs no-regulation.
- Indicated against reform (3): Zimmerman, Vos, Armstrong.
- Unknown Stance (7): Vandermeer, Pronschinske, J. Rodriguez, Petersen, Melotik, Franklin and Born.
- Supportive (12): Tranel, Tittl, Spiros, Krug, Kitchens, Hurd, Green, Goeben, Gustafson, Callahan, August, Allen.
- Crossovers / conversions: (4): Dittrich, Behnke, Donovan, Murphy.
So, at least under the “hemp” heading, out of 54 Republicans we had 24 of them willing to sign there name onto a bill, with another 14 showing support, that is still only 38 out of 54. The goal of getting 50 out of 54 Republicans this session to support reform was a daunting task. We did a great job lobbying as an industry and the only fault of Wisconsin not having a “hemp reg” bill is because of this 50 rule, but it is debatable which version of hemp regulation would have ultimately passed, but there is no doubt it would have needed some Democratic help to get it over the finish line.
The Democrats
It did not take 3 different bills and a bunch of infighting for the Democrats to figure it out!
They, the Democrats, as a party, believe in advancing the reform of cannabis laws and this session shows it. With their help on hemp, SB 682 passed through Senate committee and the Democrats assisted with bi-partisan decriminalization legislation to make sure that low hanging fruit was not forgotten.
The Democrats’ 2026 legalization bill “will include the hemp industry under a cannabis umbrella and would allow all retail establishments to sell low-dose cannabis products“, drawing a bright regulatory line between sale of high-dose and low-dose products.
- Democratic model: Separate cannabis regulatory system, but low-dose cannabis-infused products (edibles and beverages 10mg or less per serving) to be allowed at any retail sales. High-dose products sold in separately licensed retail facilities.
- Republican preview model: Cannabinoid market shaped through alcohol-style regulation, potentially empowering existing alcohol distributors and retailers. No separation of the high-dose and low-dose market.
The fight, therefore, isn’t just about hemp, or legalization — it’s about who controls the market.
2026 Is the Real Battlefield
With overwhelming Democratic sponsorship and total Republican resistance, this bill may not be designed to pass in 2025. Instead, it positions cannabis legalization as a defining campaign issue in 2026.
Voters now see a stark contrast:
- One party nearly unified behind legalization.
- The other refusing co-sponsorship and assigning the bill to a hostile committee.
- 2025-26 Republican Caucus divided on the issue; three competing bills with different ideologies presented.
Whether that contrast translates into electoral consequences remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: cannabis policy in Wisconsin is no longer a quiet policy debate — it’s a campaign issue.
And 2026 will decide which vision wins. Stay tuned for my comprehensive 2026 Election Coverage and analysis along the way. Thank you for your continued support and sponsorships for the upcoming election cycle are still needed.
Special shoutout to TabEASE for the election coverage sponsorship and providing the dabs that were consumed during the creation of this content.
