The Journal Times of Racine, Feb. 24
An opening to legalize medical marijuana
The use of medical marijuana - marijuana prescribed by a physician - has been shown to have substantial benefit for patients with cancer, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, among other conditions.
Gov. Tony Evers is proposing to legalize medical marijuana in his budget proposal, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Feb. 17. Evers, the former state schools chief, also wants to decriminalize possessing, manufacturing or distributing of up to 25 grams of recreational pot for personal use.
Evers argues it’s time for Wisconsin to join more than 30 other states - including neighboring Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois - in legalizing medical marijuana. Wisconsin voters in 16 counties and two cities voted in November to approve non-binding referendums in favor of medical marijuana, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, called the Evers proposal a “very difficult sell.” He said a medical marijuana legalization plan had about a 40 percent chance of passing, but that he thought he could get it to 50 percent. The plan Evers put forward only has a 10 percent chance with skeptical Republicans, Vos said.
The issue would appear to be linking medical marijuana with recreational marijuana.
“There is no chance Republicans are going to go to recreational marijuana,” Vos said Thursday at the WisPolitics.com luncheon in Madison. “They’re not going to decriminalize it so people can carry around bags of weed all over the state.”
Vos called that idea “so preposterous, because that is so far out of the mainstream, it makes the entire proposal not serious.”
We’re not as sure it’s that far out of the mainstream, given the support shown for medical marijuana (84.8 percent in Racine County, 87.7 percent in the City of Racine) and recreational marijuana (59.4 percent in the county, 66.3 percent in the city) in the Nov. 6 local advisory referendums.
But one of the reasons Vos keeps getting elected Assembly speaker, we presume, is that he knows how to read the room. In his case, the room is the Assembly chamber, and if he says there is “no chance” the Republican majority will go for recreational marijuana, we’re inclined to agree with his assessment.
There is, however, an opportunity for legalization of medical marijuana. Republican legislators were clearly moved by the story of Lydia Schaeffer, the little Burlington girl who suffered from severe seizures which were reduced in severity by cannabidiol, also known as CBD oil, which is derived from marijuana. Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill legalizing CBD oil in 2014. So it’s not as if Republicans in the Legislature are immovable on medical uses for marijuana.
We’re in favor of the legalization of medical marijuana, provided there are strict guidelines for physicians with regard to prescribing it. Unless recreational marijuana is legalized, we don’t want to see recreational users attempting an end run around a medical-marijuana law by seeking a doctor’s help. You shouldn’t be able to get a doctor to prescribe medical marijuana for a stubbed toe; if there aren’t going to be strict guidelines for medical prescriptions, marijuana may as well be legalized entirely.
The political climate in Madison isn’t right for recreational marijuana, but there appears to be an opening to make medical marijuana legal in Wisconsin. We’d like to see the chemo patients and those with chronic pain get help first.
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Wisconsin State Journal, Feb. 24
Credit Evers, GOP for helping the homeless
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers made it clear last week he’s serious about fighting homelessness.
So did Republicans who control the Legislature.
The bipartisan commitment was reassuring and should extend to other important issues as state leaders put together a two-year state budget in the coming months.
Evers announced last week he will lead the Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness. His predecessor had assigned the job to his lieutenant governor.
Evers’ personal and prominent involvement will bring more attention and influence to the cause. He also should commit more resources to the effort when he unveils his state budget request to lawmakers Thursday.
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, and other Republicans called last week for $3.75 million in new annual spending to help the homeless. The money would pay for recommendations the council issued last fall, including short-term grants and loans to avoid eviction, funding for staff and services at shelters, money for low-cost housing repairs, and “navigators” to help the homeless find apartments. Another priority should be measuring progress toward clear goals.
The homeless problem is widespread across Wisconsin, with nearly 22,000 people receiving shelter and services in 2017. In addition, schools report nearly 20,000 children lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. Such insecurity negatively affects learning, which helps explain Evers’ keen interest in the issue. Evers was state superintendent of schools for a decade before winning the governor’s office last fall.
The State Journal highlighted the homeless challenge and possible solutions with a nine-month reporting project in 2016. The very next year, then-Gov. Scott Walker - with unanimous support from the Legislature - created the Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness.
The council brings together the leaders of eight state agencies, encouraging them to coordinate their efforts to end homelessness. Bipartisan support for “Housing First” strategies has been strong. Housing First places chronically homeless people in permanent housing, regardless of any convictions or addictions, where they then receive support services. The successful model has been adopted in cities such as Madison as well as rural communities.
Some Democratic lawmakers complained last week about being slighted by Republicans who announced several homeless bills without their involvement. Better communication across the partisan divide is needed. But Democrats shouldn’t fret over who gets credit for seeking solutions. Democrats should have plenty of opportunity to provide input to Evers and his Cabinet, who will control the Council on Homelessness.
Cooperation will be key to helping thousands of desperate families find stable places to live.
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The Capital Times, Feb. 20
Democrats must show up to win Wisconsin in 2020
Amy Klobuchar is running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, and Beto O’Rourke may run. It is way too early to make endorsements - but the senator from Minnesota and the former congressman from Texas are starting in the right place: Wisconsin.
O’Rourke swung through Milwaukee and Madison on Friday. Klobuchar made her first campaign stop after announcing her candidacy in Eau Claire on Saturday.
The November 2020 election is 20 months away. But O’Rourke and Klobuchar get what will be required of any Democrat who proposes to displace Donald Trump.
This is not just a matter of home-state pride for Wisconsinites. This is Practical Politics 101.
It is embarrassing but true that Trump’s claiming of the presidency was made possible by Wisconsin.
Trump lost the national popular vote in 2016 by almost 3 million ballots. But that did not matter because of the results from the Badger State.
After a fall campaign in which the Republican campaigned in the state while Democrat Hillary Clinton made no stops after the April primary, Trump prevailed by the narrowest margin in the final tally from Wisconsin. Trump won just 47.2 percent of the vote, which means that a solid majority of Wisconsinites did not want him to become president. But Clinton won just 46.5 percent. That gave the Republican a 22,748 vote advantage out of almost 2.8 million votes cast. In other words, two candidates who essentially tied failed to excite majority support in Wisconsin.
Yet, under the archaic and anti-democratic Electoral College system, Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes were cast for Trump. In combination with the electoral votes he collected from narrow wins in Michigan and Pennsylvania, that was enough to give Trump the presidency.
This newspaper has long favored the elimination of the Electoral College. But that necessary reform is unlikely to come before the 2020 election. So the Democrats who propose to challenge Trump must develop popular-vote AND electoral-vote strategies.
If there were no Electoral College, Wisconsin would still be a vital stop on the presidential campaign trail. Only fools imagine that candidates seeking popular-vote majorities would skip a chance to campaign in maximum-turnout communities such as Madison and in competitive regions such as western Wisconsin.
But under the existing system, Wisconsin is not just a way station on the campaign trail. It is the essential stop.
That’s why O’Rourke was smart to come from Texas to a state where the snow is piled high and temperatures hover around zero.
The Texan did not just touch an airport tarmac, as candidates frequently do. He spent serious time with Milwaukee Area Technical College students and then with an overflow crowd on the UW-Madison campus. “Before even deciding or announcing,” he said, “I want to make sure to get a chance to meet people on a human-to-human level, not in a crowd, not as part of a campaign, but in the most honest, raw, real way possible.”
The most important comment O’Rourke made regarding a potential 2020 campaign was an acknowledgment that Wisconsin is “too often overlooked, the conversation does not begin until too late.”
Klobuchar was equally on target when she announced: “We’re starting in Wisconsin because as you remember there wasn’t a lot of campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016. With me, that changes. I’m going to be there a lot.”
Wisconsinites are clearly ready for the attention. Klobuchar’s Saturday morning event at Eau Claire’s SHIFT Cyclery & Coffee Bar was packed to capacity.
Democrats who campaign in Wisconsin, early and often, are making a smart investment of their time and energy. The state that turned out Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 - and that rejected every statewide Republican candidate in the same election - is ready to turn away from the right-wing policies and crude politics manifested by Trump. All that’s required is for the eventual Democratic nominee to embrace progressive policies AND show up.
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