MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is asking that bars in the Milwaukee municipality be allowed to stay open until 4 a.m. during the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Evers included the possible change in his 2023 budget proposal which was introduced on Feb. 15.
If passed, premises operating under Class B Licenses would be able to stay open until 4 a.m. and then reopen at 6 a.m. from July 15 through July 19, 2024.
Related: The 2024 Republican National Convention is coming to Milwaukee
Fourteen counties would be allowed to extend their hours as long as each municipality adopts Evers' resolution. Those counties are Kenosha, Racine, Walworth, Rock, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Dane, Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Sheboygan, and Fond Du Lac.
Effective right now, bars must close at 2 a.m. on weekdays and 2:30 a.m. on weekends.
The provision would need approval from the Republican-controlled Legislature to become law. According to the Associated Press, a similar proposal died in the Senate in 2020 when democrats were scheduled to hold their own convention in Milwaukee.