Unfortunately Republican Mike Rohrkaste from Neenah has not sponsored any marijuana reform legislation since being elected to the State Assembly in 2014.
During 2019 the Assembly Republicans prefiled a bill for the 2020 legislative session to create a medical marijuana program in Wisconsin (Assembly Bill 750) which Assembly Rep. Rohrkaste did not co-sponsor.
Rep. Rohrkaste announced he will not seek re-election in 2020. He has publicly called for "public hearings" on the issue, but the medical marijuana bills are "stuck" in committee and being denied a public hearing. Although Rep. Rohrkaste is not a member of the Assembly Committee on State Affairs, we would ask constituents in his district to call Rohrkaste and ask him to support AB 750 and call on the committee members to hold a public hearing.
- Born Dayton, Ohio, September 24, 1958; married; 2 children.
- Graduate Chaminade-Julienne High School (Dayton, Ohio), 1976; B.S. Michigan State University, 1980; Masters in Labor and Industrial Relations, Michigan State University, 1982.
- Full-time legislator. Former chief human resources officer, vice president of human resources; over 30 years’ business/ human resources experience.
- Member: YMCA of Fox Cities (board member); Samaritans Counseling Center Fox Valley (board member); Neenah Club; Fox Cities Morning Rotary; Calvary Bible Church.
- Former member: Fox Valley Christian Academy (board member).
- Elected to Assembly since 2014.
Feb 2019 Rep. Mike Rohrkaste, R-Neenah, said he would be open to discussing legalizing medical marijuana, but disagrees with the governor’s approach to try and put it in the state budget.
“Such legislation should really be dealt with outside of the budget process,” Rohrkaste said. “We need to have extensive hearings on it to fully understand it … we already have substance abuse issues that we need to really work with our medical communities (on) that whatever we do will have the best interest of people in the long run.
“We have to be cautious. If the governor or certain legislators really want to push this, let’s have some hearings on this.”