Wisconsin GOP's Fiscal Conservatism Goes Up In Smoke

In the last four years, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has proposed legalizing marijuana three times. All three times, the Republicans have shot that idea down. Can't have that devil salad in our fine state. However, the citizens of Wisconsin must not have gotten the memos, because they have been flocking to neighboring states where weed is legal at least in some form. And with them goes a boatload of tax revenue.

And that lost revenue is costing Wisconsinites dearly:

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, has also unsuccessfully proposed marijuana legalization for years and this week released revenue estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which show $36.1 million are estimated to be paid in Illinois taxes by marijuana customers in counties bordering the Badger State.

The analysis assumes that all sales to out-of-state residents in counties bordering Wisconsin were made to Wisconsin residents, according to the memo.

"It should upset every Wisconsinite that our hard earned tax dollars are going across the border to Illinois. This is revenue that could be going toward Wisconsin’s public schools, transportation infrastructure, and public safety," she said in a statement. "Instead, Illinois is reaping the benefits of Republican obstructionism and their prohibitionist stance on marijuana legalization."

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