Wisconsin stands to generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue under an adult-use marijuana legalization bill introduced by a top Senate Democrat, according to state officials.
About one month after the cannabis bill was filed by Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D), the Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of its potential economic impact, offering projected revenue from taxes and fees for the first three years of implementation.
While the bill’s prospects of advancing through the GOP-controlled legislature seem slim, with Republican leadership staunchly opposed to adult-use legalization, the economic analysis underscores what supporters have long argued: replacing prohibition with regulation would help fill state coffers.
The department looked at economic trends in the marijuana markets of neighboring Illinois and Michigan to develop its forecast based on the Wisconsin bill’s proposed excise, retail and general state sales taxes and local sales tax, as well as licensing and application fees.
Analysts estimate that, by the third year of implementation, the state would annually generate $60.1 million from the excise tax, $64.9 million from the retail tax and $41.7 million from the state sales tax. There would also be $3.1 million in local sales tax revenue, along with $615,000 from
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