Illinois Marijuana Equity Licensing Bill Heads To Governor’s Desk

“The goal here is to create a diverse cannabis industry with increased opportunities for social equity applicants.”

By Raymon Troncoso, Capitol News Illinois

The Illinois Senate passed a bill Friday creating new licenses and lotteries for marijuana dispensary licenses, addressing issues that have plagued the process set forth by a 2019 law legalizing recreational marijuana.

House Bill 1443 would create two new marijuana dispensary lotteries offering 55 licenses each, as well as clearing up ongoing disputes over the fate of 75 marijuana dispensary licenses that have been held up for over a year.

The House previously passed House Bill 1443 on Tuesday. In a written statement Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said he looks forward to signing the bill “so that we can begin the next phase creating a cannabis industry that reflects the diversity of all of our people.”

Equity is at the core of cannabis legalization in Illinois, and this essential legislation will accelerate our collective vision to make sure that the communities harmed the most by the war on drugs can participate in this industry as it grows.

My full statement: pic.twitter.com/EdXnRsZs5T

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) May 28, 2021

The 2019 Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act required that the original 75 licenses created by the legislation be awarded by May 2020.

“The goal here is to create a diverse cannabis industry with increased opportunities for social equity applicants,” Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said during floor debate. “There was a war on drugs that we all know so well, especially those of us in the Black community, there was provisions in the (CRTA) that address that but we wanted to make sure that there was also ownership.”

After just 21 of more than 900 applicants were deemed eligible to participate in a lottery for the 75 licenses, legislative backlash from the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus and Latino Caucus drove the Pritzker administration to pause the lottery and offer the chance for firms who failed to reach the threshold to re-submit their application.

This prompted lawsuits from some of the 21 lottery finalists, who alleged it was in breach of the 2019 law.

The new legislation serves as a compromise, and its sponsors, as well as the Pritzker administration, have indicated the lawsuits will end and the original lottery will go forward upon the signing of HB 1443.

Under the new provision, the first new batch of 55 licenses will be offered through a “Qualifying Applicant Lottery” which would only be open to applicants who scored 85 percent or higher on submissions for the first 75 licenses.

This would provide firms who did not receive a perfect score and were excluded from the initial 75-license lottery, and firms who did qualify for the initial tiebreaker lottery but have not hit the 10-license cap for applicants in that first lottery, a chance to win more licenses.

The second new batch of 55 licenses would be offered through a “Social Equity Justice Involved Lottery.” Those eligible must have scored 85 percent or higher on their submission and must also qualify as a social equity applicant. That means 51 percent of the firm’s ownership must be someone who has lived in an area impacted by the war on drugs for 10 years, have been arrested or convicted of a marijuana crime eligible for expungement, or be a member of a family impacted by the war on drugs.

Thank you @LLCoolK_4 and @RepLaShawnFord for your leadership, and thank you to the many advocates and community leaders throughout the state who helped pave the way. #restorativejustice#equity

— Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (@LtGovStratton) May 28, 2021

A firm in either of these lotteries cannot win more than two licenses, while those in the original lottery can still win up to 10 dispensary licenses.

Another lottery of five licenses for medical cannabis dispensaries would also be open to applicants who were eligible for the social equity or qualifying lotteries.

It passed the Senate in a 50-3 vote and will be sent to Pritzker for his signature.

This piece was first published by Capitol News Illinois.

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Illinois Governor Pardons Over 11,000 People For Marijuana One Day Before Legal Sales Begin

One day before legal recreational marijuana sales launch in Illinois, the governor announced that his office is clearing the records of more than 11,000 people who have previously been convicted of simple cannabis possession.

Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D) said the move “sets us apart” from other states that have legalized marijuana for adult-use and that “Illinois is putting equity first, clearing thousands of convictions and giving individuals & their families a new lease on life.”

These 11,017 misdemeanor convictions represent individuals who have carried around with them a stain on their records for possessing less than 30 grams of cannabis – a stain that has very often prevented them from obtaining housing or jobs or benefits.

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2019

A total of 11,017 people will be receive pardons for possession offenses of up to 30 grams. The governor’s office said that there are 116,000 records that are eligible for expungement through this process, with hundreds of thousands of others that may qualify for relief by petitioning the courts.

Here in Illinois, we’re not just looking back and correcting the wrongs of our past – we’re facing our future, determined to do better – for everyone.

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2019

“Importantly, this is just the first wave of Illinoisans who will see a new world of opportunities emerge as they shed the burden of their nonviolent cannabis-related convictions and records,” he said.

But unlike other states, in Illinois, we purposely built a system where the market has room to grow, so that entrepreneurs, including especially those from the communities devastated by the war on drugs, will have real opportunities in this industry.

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2019

While Prtizker said he anticipates Illinois will see “high demand and long lines” for marijuana as legal sales go online, he emphasized the need to address restorative justice at the same time that the state benefits economically from its adult-use program.

We are ending the 50-year long war on cannabis.

We are restoring rights to many tens of thousands of Illinoisans.

We are bringing regulation and safety to a previously unsafe and illegal market.

And we are creating a new industry that puts equity at its very core.

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 31, 2019

Illinois lawmakers “purposely built a system where the market has room to grow, so that entrepreneurs, including especially those from the communities devastated by the war on drugs, will have real opportunities in this industry,” he said. “It’s important to put this moment in perspective.”

The governor said legalization will accomplish four main feats: ending a decades-long prohibition on cannabis, restoring rights to tens of thousands of residents, regulating a formerly unsafe illicit market and developing an industry “that puts equity at its very core.”

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx joined Pritzker to announce the expungements and said that “[c]learing cannabis records will reopen doors for thousands of people and strengthen our communities.”

Today I joined @GovPritzker as we took another step toward justice. Clearing cannabis records will reopen doors for thousands of people and strengthen our communities. Thank you Governor for your leadership in fighting for equity and reform. pic.twitter.com/U5cRcLAawg

— State’s Attorney Kim Foxx (@SAKimFoxx) December 31, 2019

“Today we took another step toward justice, as we continue to address the failed war on drugs and the disproportionate impact it had on communities of color,” Foxx said in a press release. “Clearing records under this revolutionary new law will not only open doors for thousands of families but will create stronger, safer communities as well.”

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D) said that “Illinois is going where no other state has before, admitting the unjust errors of the war on drugs and giving so many Illinoisans greater opportunities to build good lives for themselves and the people they love.”

Illinois’ legalization of adult-use cannabis is the most equity-centric in the nation. Why? Because it is rooted in #restorativejustice and the understanding that we can’t have true justice without #equity and opportunity. #JEO#cannabis

— Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (@LtGovStratton) December 31, 2019

“Our Restore, Reinvest and Renew program will direct 25 percent of the state’s cannabis revenue right back into the communities hit the hardest by decades of over-policing, disinvestment, disenfranchisement and violence,” she said. “In that effort, we’re lifting up the voices of the people who actually live in these neighborhoods, who know these blocks and exactly where our dollars will make a real difference.”

This is justice. This is what social #equity is all about…righting wrongs and leveling the playing field.

Illinois has earned its place in history, @GovPritzker is a courageous leader, and I’m thrilled he believes in second chances. #cannabis#JEO

— Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (@LtGovStratton) December 31, 2019

Illinois became the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana when Pritzker signed the reform legislation in June. It was the first state to approve a tax-and-regulate system for cannabis through the legislature as opposed to by voters via a ballot initiative.

Advocates expect to see many other new state marijuana laws enacted in the coming months and years.

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Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.