hist149821Assembly Bill 411 February 4, 2022 This bill would prohibit school districts and independent, publicly-funded charter schools from providing instruction on a wide variety of subjects centered around race and sex discrimination. The bill would also prohibit school boards and charter school operators from requiring school staff to attend training on providing instruction on these topics. Additionally, under the bill, the Department of Public Instruction would be required to withhold 10 percent of a district's state aid distribution if they determine the school is providing instruction or training on these topics. Further, the bill would create a private legal enforcement action, allowing individuals to sue a district or school for alleged violations of the bill.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to creating new censorship rules that restrict schools and educators from teaching honest, complete facts about important historical topics like the Civil War and civil rights. I have said before and will restate again today that I trust parents, educators, and schools to work together to do what is best for our kids—work they have long been doing without the political interference and micromanagement from politicians in Madison. Our kids deserve to learn in an atmosphere conducive to learning without being subjected to state legislative encroachment that is neither needed nor warranted. Moreover, we have worked hard to provide increased support for our kids and our schools after a decade's worth of cuts to education. This work has helped our state return to having the 8th best pre-K-12 education system in the country after dropping to 17th in 2017. There is no question that the aid we are providing our schools is much better spent on our kids learning in our classrooms than on the onslaught of attorney fees, lawsuits, and legal bills that could befall them because of this legislation.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
February 4, 2022
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
The following bill, originating in the Assembly, has been vetoed in its entirety, and was returned to its house of origin, together with the objections in writing:
Bill Number Date of Veto
hist149822Assembly Bill 440 February 4, 2022 This bill would create a separate penalty for manufacturing marijuana or separating resin from marijuana by butane extraction or a similar method and would create a graduated penalty structure for marijuana possession if the form is a resin produced through butane extraction.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to creating additional criminal offenses or penalties related to marijuana use.
In recent years, we have seen state after state reform marijuana prohibitions, from decriminalization to legalizing medical marijuana to legalizing recreational use. According to a 2019 Marquette Law School poll, nearly 60 percent of Wisconsinites believe the time has come for us to legalize recreational marijuana. I agree with them, and my 2021-23 budget proposed to do just that. Additionally, I proposed using a part of the expected revenue from marijuana legalization for a community reinvestment fund to support programs to invest in the communities that have too often borne the cost of marijuana criminalization.
It is widely accepted, and, indeed, research over the course of the last decade confirms, that marijuana criminalization has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, especially in Wisconsin where we have longstanding racial disparities in incarceration rates. For example, according to a report released by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2020, Wisconsin ranks among the worst in the country for racial disparities in arrests for marijuana possession. Similarly, while national arrest rates for marijuana possession overall have declined over the last decade, Wisconsin has trended in the opposite direction, with marijuana possession arrests increasing more than 12 percent from 2010 to 2018. Moreover, that same study showed Black people are 4.2 times more likely to be arrested in Wisconsin for marijuana possession than their white counterparts despite comparable national rates of use.
Marijuana possession and manufacturing/delivery, regardless of the form, is currently illegal in Wisconsin. The bill would create a new sentencing disparity for marijuana resin. Under the bill, a second or subsequent offense of possessing or attempting to possess resin would have escalating penalties depending on the amount involved. If it involves more than 50 grams, about 1.76 ounces, it would be a Class E felony. But under current law, a similar repeat offense for tetrahydrocannabinols—regardless of the amount—is a Class I felony. This bill represents a continuation of past policies and paradigms we know have had detrimental effects on people, families, and communities across our state while also creating a new sentencing disparity for marijuana resin.
States across our country—both Democrat and Republican-controlled alike—have and are taking meaningful steps to address increased incarceration rates and reduce racial disparities by investing in substance use treatment, community reentry programming, alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation, and other datadriven, evidence-based practices we know are essential solutions to reforming our justice system. The data and the science are clear on this issue, and I welcome the Legislature to start having meaningful conversations around justice reform in Wisconsin.
As former Governor Tommy Thompson has said in recent years, “I've also come to believe that our corrections system and incarceration practices are both financially unsustainable and provide questionable outcomes worthy of strenuous review.” I agree. And this bill would simply be another step in the wrong direction.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
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Speaker's Communications
February 7, 2022
Representative Joel Kitchens
Room 220 North, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53708
Dear Representative Kitchens:
hist149891Pursuant to Assembly Rule 42 (3)(c), with your permission as Chair of the Environment committee, I will remove Assembly Bill 943 from the committee and refer the bill to the State Affairs committee. hist0Please contact my office with any questions. Sincerely,
ROBIN J. VOS
Assembly Speaker
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Communications
February 4, 2022
Edward A. Blazel
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Blazel:
hist149819Please add my name as a co-author of Assembly Bill 948, relating to nonprobate transfers of farming implements at death. Sincerely,
ROBERT BROOKS
State Representative
60th Assembly District
_____________
February 7, 2022
Edward A. Blazel
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Blazel:
hist149898Please add my name as a co-author of Assembly Bill 506, relating to warning lamps on highway vehicles. hist149899Please add my name as a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 508, relating to warning lamps on highway vehicles. Sincerely,
JESSE JAMES
State Representative
68th Assembly District
_____________
February 7, 2022
Edward A. Blazel
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Blazel:
hist149931Please add my name as a co-author of Assembly Bill 899, relating to requiring one credit of personal financial literacy for high school graduation. Sincerely,
BARBARA DITTRICH
State Representative
38th Assembly District
_____________
February 7, 2022
Edward A. Blazel
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Blazel:
hist149937Please add my name as a co-author of Assembly Bill 814, relating to rehired annuitant teachers. Sincerely,
TODD NOVAK
State Representative
51st Assembly District
_____________
February 7, 2022
Edward A. Blazel
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
