Wisconsin's Incoming Speaker Puts Marijuana Legalization on the Agenda

November 12, 2026 at 9:40 am|By nuggnotes Media

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Incoming Assembly Speaker Greta Neubauer says marijuana legalization is "a priority for us" and hopes to pass it in the coming year, with Democrats holding a Wisconsin trifecta for the first time since 2010 and a governor-elect making the revenue case on national TV.

Democrats put legalization on the table

Wisconsin Democrats won control of the state Assembly and Senate in the November 3, 2026 election, giving the party a governing trifecta for the first time since 2010, with Governor-elect David Crowley succeeding fellow Democrat Tony Evers.

On Tuesday, November 10, after the Assembly Democratic caucus elected Greta Neubauer its leader, she laid out her priorities in the Assembly chamber, including marijuana legalization.

Neubauer wants a bill passed in the coming year

Legalization is "a priority for us," Neubauer said.

Asked whether it would move in the budget or as a standalone bill, she said: "We're figuring out exactly where it fits. But we do hope to pass marijuana legalization in the coming year."

A Democratic colleague, Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, called the legislative vehicle "to be determined." Neubauer gave no revenue figures and did not raise expungement or home grow.

Crowley is making the financial case. On CNN on November 10, asked about federal Medicaid cuts, he said he wants to "increase our revenues… For example, legalizing marijuana. We are one of the very few states in the Midwest that has not legalized it," adding that Wisconsin loses "tens of millions of dollars" to Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan.

At an October debate, Crowley estimated that full legalization could generate $80–170 million, which he said could help fund healthcare.

Wisconsin's holdout status could soon change

Wisconsin remains a holdout: recreational marijuana is fully illegal, there is no medical program beyond a narrow CBD law, and Republican majorities stripped legalization from Gov. Evers' budgets year after year.

A 2023 Wisconsin Department of Revenue fiscal estimate projected nearly $170 million in annual tax revenue under a proposed legalization framework, and a June 2025 Marquette poll found 67 percent support.

Neubauer, of Racine, has led the Assembly Democrats since 2022. When the new legislature convenes January 4, 2027, she is set to become the Assembly's first woman speaker.

Sources

WisconsinEye, "News Conference: Assembly Democratic Caucus Leadership Election," Nov. 10, 2026
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, coverage of the Nov. 10, 2026 Assembly Democratic caucus press conference
CNN, "The Source with Kaitlan Collins," Nov. 10, 2026 (Gov.-elect David Crowley interview)
WISN, Wisconsin governor's race debate, October 2026

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