MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥 Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who has pushed for full legalization of recreational marijuana, said Wednesday that he is open to a more limited medical marijuana legalization being promoted by Republicans.
鈥淚 would think that getting it all done in one fell swoop would be more thoughtful as far as meeting the needs of Wisconsinites that have asked for it,鈥 the Democrat said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淏ut if that鈥檚 what we can accomplish right now, I鈥檒l be supportive of that.鈥
Republicans planned to introduce a bill on Monday. GOP lawmakers have repeatedly from Evers and other Democrats to legalize all uses of marijuana, including medical and recreational.
Vos said the proposal would be limited and modeled after the medical marijuana law that had been in place in neighboring Minnesota before it .
鈥淚'm glad that the governor is open to supporting our proposal," Vos said Friday. "But if he keeps saying it鈥檚 only a precursor to recreational marijuana, it will kill this proposal.鈥
Republican state Sen. Mary Felzkowski, who that got its first hearing in the Legislature in 2022, said she too was glad Evers was open to the idea. Felzkowski said she is not involved with the Assembly's latest proposal.
Evers said he had not yet seen the Republican bill but that he would support a limited proposal.
Democratic Sen. Melissa Agard, who has pushed for full legalization, said Republicans were not consulting with her on the bill and she also didn鈥檛 know what it would include.
鈥淭he devil鈥檚 in the details with all policy making,鈥 Agard said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to say I support or don鈥檛 support something I haven鈥檛 seen yet.鈥
Wisconsin remains an outlier nationally. Thirty-eight states have legalized medical marijuana and 24 have legalized recreational marijuana. The push for legalization in Wisconsin has as its neighbors have loosened laws.
Marquette University Law School polls have shown large majority support among Wisconsin residents for legalizing marijuana use for years.
