UP: Marijuana users. State Rep. Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) introduces a bill that would legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use, like Colorado and Washington have done. "This is a tide that's turning in our country," she tells the Wisconsin State Journal. "It's not a question of whether this will happen, it's when."
DOWN: Wisconsin's large employers. Gov. Scott Walker's rejection of federal funds to expand Medicaid could cost the state's large employers a combined $37 million in tax penalties, starting next year. Companies with 50 or more employees face penalties if their workers receive subsidized coverage through the insurance exchanges -- but they don't face those penalties for employees covered by Medicaid, which the governor declined to expand. Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. estimates that Wisconsin has about 12,000 workers in this situation, at companies that will be hit with the penalties.
