(The Center Square) – The Republican sponsors of a bill to enhance penalties for drug dealers near homeless shelters say that Gov. Tony Evers’ veto of the bill continues what they called failed policies against addiction and recovery.
The big would have allowed the maximum penalty for dealing drugs by delivery or intent within 1,000 feet of a homeless shelter to be increased by five years.
“Many of our fellow citizens who are homeless are also struggling with addiction. They need to get on the path of sobriety, but drug dealers preying on them nearby only make their situation worse,” Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, said in a statement after the veto. “The Governor’s shameful veto will prolong a failed approach to homelessness and addiction that keeps people mired in the darkest period of their lives.”
Evers argued that the bill was part of an outdated and archaic approach to criminal justice. He said that the Legislature should instead use an evidence-based approach, which he did not describe.
“I am disappointed the Legislature continues to focus its attention on proposals that do little to improve this landscape when there are serious and urgent needs facing our correctional institutions and our criminal justice system, including aging facilities and a soaring prison population that Wisconsin’s correctional institutions cannot continue to accommodate,” Evers wrote.
The bill would have created something similar to a drug-free school zone around homeless shelters.
“I’m disappointed in Gov. Evers’ veto of SB 610,” Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, said in a statement. “Yet again, it proves how naive the Democrat Party is when it comes to dealing with critical urban issues.”
