Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2016
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2016 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/general/30627794.html
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265

THE STATE SENATE'S FAILURE

Scott Fitzgerald had indicated he was in favor of a bill to help kids 
prone to seizures get the medicine they need. So was a majority of 
the state Senate. But the apparent support of the Senate majority 
leader and his colleagues wasn't enough when three top Republicans - 
Senate President Mary Lazich of New Berlin and Senators Duey Stroebel 
of Cedarburg and Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa - blocked it.

So Fitzgerald derailed a floor vote on the legislation earlier this 
week by scheduling a hearing on the bill and then canceling it. Bills 
can't be brought to the floor if a hearing is pending. Fitzgerald 
used the end around to protect his colleagues. Democrats countered by 
attempting to take a two-thirds vote to override the rule, but 
Fitzgerald quickly adjourned the Senate before a vote could be held.

Just more politics as usual in the state Capitol. And it left even 
some Republicans grasping for an explanation.

"They should use actual facts to explain why they are blocking the 
will and hope of parents statewide," said one of the bill's 
bipartisan supporters, Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine).

Assembly Bill 228, which passed the lower house last month, involves 
the use of cannabis oil, a marijuana byproduct that advocates believe 
can help reduce seizures in kids who have few other options. The 
Legislature approved a bill in 2014 to allow families to obtain 
cannabidiol oil, but the conditions under which they could get it 
were so restrictive that the law was essentially useless. AB 228 was 
meant to mend that flaw in the original legislation.

Lazich, Stroebel and Vukmir believe the bill could give Native 
American tribes a legal lever to force open legalization of marijuana 
in Wisconsin through the federal courts. The tribes used a similar 
approach to pave the way for tribal casinos, arguing that since the 
state had a lottery, they should have gaming.

But we're skeptical that will happen, based on what the tribes have 
said, and it's not clear that passing this bill bolsters that 
argument any more than the original legislation did two years ago.

What has happened is that families once again were kicked in the 
teeth by a group of legislators who either can't think straight or 
don't try very hard to do so.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom