Bob Donovan (R) all over the 2026 hemp bills
Recently hemp cannabis came under attack by Republicans with a bill to ban hemp cannabis, but also some Republicans co-sponsored a bill to regulate and tax hemp cannabis under the alcohol Three Tier System and yet other Republicans proposed legislation to keep hemp cannabis largely as it is today. It was a turbulent fall for hemp legislation and 2026 is starting off hot also as AB 747 comes flying into committee HOT!
Making things confusing in the WIP analysis if these bills are going to pass are legislators like Republicans David Murphy and Bob Donovan, who sponsored versions of the bill to ban and a bill to regulate hemp. Come on guys, you cannot have it both ways!
I wrote an article about Dave Murphy who co-sponsored the bill to ban hemp and also came on as a co-sponsor to the Testin/Kurtz bill, which would largely keep the industry intact in Wisconsin the way it is today. But there is also Bob Donovan on the list of the 10 legislators who signed their names to the Brill ban bill.
Donovan was listed as an original author on AB 503, the bill to ban hemp. Donovan also showed up as a co-sponsor on AB 606, the bill to regulate hemp through the Three Tier System. Advocates visited his office during the public hearing for SB 682 (AB 747) on January 8th and have reported back that Donovan also supports AB 747 and would be a YES vote should the bill advance to a floor vote.
This spells bad news for the ban bill and good news for regulatory efforts if that last part is true.
In the 2024 Election the 61st Assembly went to Republican Bob Donovan who defeated Democrat LuAnn Bird by 1108 votes. That was one of the closest elections in 2024 and will be listed as a competitive district in the 2026 election.
The 2022 election had only 526 votes decide who got the job between these two.
Could these past close election results have Donovan playing both sides of the field? Did Donovan just co-sponsor these bills because one of his colleagues asked him to? Does Donovan see the light the prohibition does not equal public safety? Is Donovan evolving on the issue of hemp cannabis reform?
Donovan is definitely not a fan of cannabis reform, but is always talking about public safety as a priority of his.
The 61st Assembly district is located in southeastern Wisconsin, the district comprises part of southwest Milwaukee County, including the villages of Greendale and Hales Corners, most of the city of Greenfield, and parts of southwest Milwaukee and northeast Franklin.
Even if you are not in his district, please take a moment and use the form below to support Assembly Bill 747 / Senate Bill 682, the Testin/Kurtz Hemp Regulation Bill:
Although Senator Pat Testin signaled that he would not advance the Three Tier Bill AB 606 / SB 681 in his committee, we are still asking Wisconsinites to officially oppose this legislation also by using the action network que below:
