WISCONSIN (WBAY) – Wisconsin residents contributed more than $36 million in marijuana taxes to Illinois last year and nearly $6 million to Michigan in 2024, according to new numbers released by the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The revenue comes from counties bordering Wisconsin that legally sell marijuana, while bills to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana remain stalled in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Wisconsin will have a new governor, new speaker in the Assembly and a new majority leader in the state Senate next January.

All three people holding those leadership positions decided not to seek re-election.

State lawmakers will have a fresh debate regarding marijuana for the first time in a while, and the latest numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau are likely to be a big part of it.

Illinois dispensaries generate millions from Wisconsin buyers

On the Wisconsin border, from Michigan to Illinois, marijuana sales have become big business.

“The economic value to restoring this plant back to our economy is huge. We can’t even put a dollar amount on it,” said Jay Selthofner, founder of the Wisconsin Cannabis Activist Network.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo, Wisconsin residents contributed $36.1 million last year to the overall marijuana tax collected by Illinois.

That’s based on data from 36 dispensaries located in five of the six counties bordering Wisconsin. Jo Daviess, Lake, McHenry, Winnebago and Boone counties have dispensaries, while Stephenson County does not.

Among the five counties with dispensaries, a total of $319.4 million in sales was generated. The report concludes $132.4 million, or 41.5%, of these sales were made to out-of-state residents.

“It’s concerning that yeah, revenue is leaving the state both tax wise and tourism dollars without being a state that is looked at as recreational marijuana, we’re losing some tourism there,” Selthofner said.

Michigan collects nearly $6 million in taxes from Wisconsin residents

On the other side of the state, Michigan is making money off Wisconsin residents.

The most recent data from 2024 shows the state with 854 retailers and microbusinesses licensed to sell cannabis. Of those licensees, 22 were located in counties bordering Wisconsin: Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson and Menominee.

The report states, “Assuming that each retailer/microbusiness makes an equal amount of sales,” those businesses in the Upper Peninsula brought in $85.4 million. Using the same estimate as Illinois, 41.5% of sales came from Wisconsin residents, translating into $5.8 million in tax revenue collected.

Minnesota is also mentioned in the report. The state began legalized cannabis sales in September 2025, but so far there is no data on taxes paid by Wisconsin residents.

Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on legalization

If Wisconsin makes changes, it’s likely to be next year after the November election.

Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany said he is open to medical marijuana and supporting veterans.

“I think in particular we should look out for our veterans. I’ve heard from so many veterans that suffer from PTSD and I’m very open to that as well as medicinal. I think we just work our way through it and get to a good spot in regards to marijuana,” Tiffany said.

Among the Democrats running for governor, at least seven have come out supporting efforts to legalize marijuana, aligning with the state party platform.

“A lot of people look at it as the wild west right now here in Wisconsin, it’s not. It’s the wild Wisconsin and what Wisconsin is going to do is it’s going to show the rest of the country how innovative a state can really be on cannabis,” Selthofner said.

Twenty-four states, along with the District of Columbia, legalize recreational marijuana, and 40 total legalize medical marijuana. The most recent additions are Ohio, Minnesota and Missouri.

Everyone talked to Daniel Bice – whether they admitted it or not.

A veteran political reporter, Bice could conjure a politician’s personal phone number in seconds and never feared knocking on the door of someone he was trying to reach. 

Bice, who worked for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for 33 years, died from complications of esophageal cancer on April 21, his birthday. 

He had just turned 62.

“Dan was fearless and fierce, a relentless reporter who wrote with clarity and precision. He knew how to cultivate sources and chase a story,” said Greg Borowski, executive editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He thought nothing of driving five hours to stick a notebook in the governor’s face, willing to ask any question – and take the blowback that came with it.

“His loss is a blow to the community, the profession and especially for our team here.”

A native of West Virginia, Bice started his Wisconsin career in the Madison bureau of the Milwaukee Sentinel and then the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the two papers merged in 1995.

A few years later, the paper’s leadership wanted a new, buzzy watchdog column and tapped Bice and Cary Spivak, a business reporter, to write it. The pair, nicknamed the “Spice Boys,” earned national awards and scored countless scoops, including one that ended the political career of former Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist.

“The two of us working together, it was kind of the odd couple,” Spivak said. “He’s West Virginia, I’m Chicago ‘burbs. But we got along good. We had no sets of rules on how to do stuff, we would just argue it out, but we both had similar news judgment.”

Bice later went on to author his own column, “No Quarter,” where he wrote about scandals big and small, from all sides of the political spectrum. He always responded to readers with a mix of humor and humility, especially his critics, who flooded his email inbox and online chats.

When one called him a “liberal activist” in 2014, Bice pointed to his three critical pieces about Democratic politicians that he had just published the week prior.  “But here’s the lesson,” Bice added. “We should all spend more time paying attention to what I am actually writing and publishing. Then maybe I’ll get a huge raise.”

Even with his column, Bice never stopped reporting the news.

He broke countless stories and distinguished himself among Wisconsin’s press corps with his relentless coverage of Milwaukee County prosecutors’ “John Doe” investigations into Scott Walker’s time as Milwaukee County executive and as governor.

“As someone at a different outlet at the time, it was impossible to keep up with him,” said Mary Spicuzza, who joined the Journal Sentinel in 2015 after covering politics at the Wisconsin State Journal.

“Dan Bice was the most feared man in Wisconsin politics,” she added. “To me, he was larger than life – a legend who became my mentor, my work husband and one of my best friends.”

In recent years, he covered the record-breaking state Supreme Court race between Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, the arrest and resulting court case of former Milwaukee Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, and the campaign of gubernatorial hopeful Bill Berrien, who ended his political run after Bice reported on his online activity.

“I used to kid him that he was equal opportunity in the sense that he’d go after Republicans and Democrats,” said Walker, a Republican and former governor.

“There were times when I liked what he wrote, and there were other times that I didn’t like it at all,” he said. “It probably was a good sign he was pursuing the role of the journalist, which was without regard to politics or other bias, just exposing things that needed to be exposed.”

For all the sharpness of his writing – Milwaukee Magazine once described him “as an assassin with a pen” – Bice hardly ever raised his voice with sources or colleagues. He had a preternatural ability to stay calm even in the most confrontational or tense interviews.

At a retirement celebration for Spivak last summer, Bice gave one of many speeches in his friend’s honor. Bice later told a colleague that he left out the last thing he wanted to thank Spivak for – carrying the column for months while Bice navigated a family crisis – because he feared he would not be able to finish without tears.

Beyond the paper, Bice was an avid music-lover and frequent concert-goer. If you asked if he had heard of a band, he undoubtedly had. He could spend hours discussing politics, history and religion with wit and humor, and he led historical tours to Greece and other countries.

Bice grew up in a household steeped in religious fundamentalism. He earned undergraduate degrees in ancient Greek and English at Bryan College, a small Christian college in Tennessee, and a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago.

His college experience shaped him and started to change his career path.

“Parts of my faith started falling apart. I don’t think it ever fell apart completely,” Bice said during a Rotary event last year. “But you know, when you start reading texts in the original language, things aren’t quite as they seem sometimes.”

He noticed a job listing for “liberal arts majors” from the Poynter Institute in Florida, a nonprofit that trains journalists and covers the media industry. He landed one of the coveted 15 positions after more than 350 people applied, and started reporting at the St. Petersburg Times in 1986.

In an early sign of his single-mindedness on a story, he had raced back to the newsroom with the latest from a meeting about a potential baseball stadium development. His mind completely occupied with the story, he didn’t see a red light and hit another car, which then hit a house.

“My editors are wondering where I am, and I’m trying to explain to the cop, this is super important and I’ve got to get back to the newspaper to write this,” Bice recalled during the Rotary talk. “They’re like, you’re not going anywhere.”

John Blackwell is one of the more sought-after players still available in the NCAA transfer portal. Big-time programs are coming after the former Wisconsin Badgers guard. And now, On3’s Joe Tipton is calling his shot on where Blackwell will end up.

Tipton has put in an RPM for Blackwell to commit and sign with the Duke Blue Devils. His level of confidence sits at 60%. If Duke head coach Jon Scheyer can get this one over the finish line, it could prove to be a massive addition.

“Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell is one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal,” Tipton said. “The 6-foot-4 shooting guard took an official visit to Duke on Monday and the Blue Devils are carrying the momentum in this recruitment. I’ve officially placed an RPM prediction in favor of Duke to ultimately land the star transfer.”

The On3 Industry Transfer Portal Rankings have Blackwell slotted as the No. 5 overall player to enter this cycle. Just looking at shooting guards, only one guy is ahead of him — Wake Forest‘s Juke Harris.

Blackwell spent three seasons in Madison before entering the transfer portal. He was in double figures over the last two years, averaging 19.1 points during the 2025-2026 campaign. Duke will enjoy his efficiency as well, shooting 43% from the field and 38.9% behind the three-point line.

There is more to what Blackwell can do than just shoot, though. He snagged just over five rebounds and dished out 2.3 assists per game.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Before the RPM pick from Tipton, the latest update on where things stood with Blackwell came on Saturday. Tipton laid out who else is still considered to be in the running, including a visit schedule for the Wisconsin transfer. You can check out the full piece of intel here.

Duke has turned into one of the more consistent programs in college basketball, playing at a high level under Scheyer. The last three seasons have resulted in at least an Elite Eight appearance, even making the Final Four in 2025. Still, the expectations in Durham are to win a national championship. Maybe Blackwell is the guy who can help them take the next step forward.