AB747 / SB682 / AB606 Convergence Ammendment

Wisconsin’s hemp-derived cannabinoid (HDC) industry is at a breaking point. The Legislature is locked in a gridlock between two competing regulatory approaches—AB 606 on one side and SB 682 / AB 747 on the other. Right now, both pathways are stalled in committee, and with the session calendar closing, Wisconsin businesses are staring down the real possibility of shutdowns, layoffs, and an unregulated market vacuum.

Over the last 24 hours, Wisconsin operators and stakeholders built a last-ditch solution designed to break that gridlock: a single Convergence Amendment that can be adopted into either bill lane so both sides end up voting on the same final text.

What’s happening in Madison (why this matters)

The current stalemate is not because Wisconsin can’t regulate hemp—it’s because leadership is divided on how. Each side has its own bill language, its own supporters, and its own “deal-breakers.” The result has been paralysis:

AB 606

is stuck.

SB 682 / AB 747

is stuck.

Businesses are left with uncertainty and risk while bad actors operate in the shadows.

The biggest political fault lines we identified are:

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) shipping

(a major enforcement and optics issue)

Pressure to force a

mandatory 3-tier system

(manufacturer → distributor → retailer), which many Wisconsin businesses believe would raise prices and damage small craft operators

What we did today (the strategy nobody expected)

Instead of arguing about which bill “wins,” we created a convergence play:

Amend AB 606 into the Convergence Bill AND amend SB 682 / AB 747 into the same Convergence Bill.

That means committee chairs no longer have a reason to block movement over competing text—because the text becomes identical.

How we built it (why this is different)

We did not draft a brand-new bill full of new definitions politicians can fight about.

We used a “vocabulary bank” approach: we pulled the existing language already in the bills and their amendments and merged it section-by-section into one cohesive substitute. In other words, we used the Legislature’s own words wherever possible to reduce friction, reduce debate over terminology, and maximize the odds of passage under a tight timeline.

What the Convergence Amendment is designed to accomplish

This is a stabilization bill meant to protect consumers and keep legitimate Wisconsin businesses operating.

The convergence text is built to:

Protect consumers with enforceable standards (age restrictions, labeling, packaging, required COAs/QR access, etc.)

Create a practical enforcement backbone through

DATCP licensing/registry

(manufacturer, distributor, retailer)

Add a farmer pathway through a

cultivator permit program

so cultivation is not ignored

Include

banking and insurance safe-harbor language

to support legitimate commerce

Eliminate DTC shipping

to remove a major opposition trigger and simplify enforcement

Avoid a

mandatory 3-tier requirement

, allowing Wisconsin businesses to operate without a forced middleman

Why taxes are not included (for now)

We intentionally kept taxes out of this convergence text for one reason: passing a stabilizing framework comes first. Tax debates can stall bills, fracture industry support, and become a reason to do nothing. The goal today is to save the industry and build the regulatory backbone. If the Legislature wants to add taxation later, the licensing/registry structure supports that conversation.

The goal

The goal is simple and urgent:

Unify the Wisconsin hemp industry

behind one workable compromise.

Show lawmakers this is the

majority (“99%”) position

, not a niche interest.

Deliver a substitute amendment that can move through committee and reach a floor vote before the session window closes.

Prevent a collapse that would cost jobs, shutter businesses, hurt farmers, and hand the market back to unregulated operators.

What you can do right now

To make this real, we need proof that Wisconsin’s hemp operators stand behind the convergence language.

Below are the links to:

The full Convergence Bill (raw text)

The Memorandum (section-by-section explanation + how we built it using existing bill language)

The Wisconsin business sign-on form

(to show legislators broad industry support)

This is the fastest path we have to pull off the unthinkable: break the gridlock, move a bill, and keep Wisconsin hemp alive.