Despite promises that cannabis legalization in Illinois would fund more minority business participation and neighborhood improvements, the state has yet to spend $62 million collected for those purposes.
Part of the delay in awarding the money is due to problems with the state’s system to award new cannabis business licenses. The other reason for the holdup, officials say, is because of an outpouring of requests for funding.
The lack of help for communities and entrepreneurs who need it badly is another reason for state officials to issue new licenses as soon as they can, said state Sen. Heather Steans, co-sponsor of the law that legalized marijuana and taxed it to help people in the state’s most desperate areas.
“I’m certainly hoping those dollars get out as soon as possible,” Steans said. “We did a lot to make this the most equitable cannabis system in the country. … We haven’t seen the results yet we wanted in any of those areas, so we obviously need to stay on it.”
Through December, the Department of Revenue collected more than $175 million in taxes from recreational marijuana sales. From the proceeds, 35% goes to the state’s General Fund, 25% for community development, 20% for substance abuse treatment and prevention and mental health, 10% to the state’s backlog of bills, 8% to local law enforcement and 2% for education and collecting data on the health effects of legal pot.
The funds that have yet to be spent are divided evenly between two different programs — the Cannabis Business Development Fund, and the Restore, Reinvest and Renew Program, known as R3. Half of it, $31 million in the business fund, is generated by fees paid by existing cannabis businesses. It is set aside for loans and grants to new cannabis entrepreneurs, but cannot be awarded until the business licenses are issued.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and problems with the scoring process, those licenses have been delayed for eight months. An effort to rescore applications may take weeks or months more.
A proposal to create 75 additional recreational marijuana store licenses stalled in Springfield, but supporters hope to approve such a measure in the current legislative session.
More broadly, the cannabis law was meant to benefit people far beyond cannabis business owners. Community improvements are to come under the R3 program. It has collected another $31 million meant to go to economic development, violence prevention, convict reentry services, youth development and civil legal aid.
The funding is targeted to help areas that have been ravaged by high rates of shootings, poverty, unemployment and incarceration. Only organizations that serve residents in eligible R3 zones or are based in those areas may apply.
The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, which oversees the program, began accepting requests for the grants in May 2020. The agency typically receives less than 100 applications for a grant.
But after the state sponsored training for community organizations to apply and extended the deadline into July, the agency received nearly 400 applications, the most ever. Regulators say the money will be distributed for community programs in the coming weeks.
“With the number of applications to be reviewed …” spokeswoman Yolanda Joe wrote to the Tribune, “it takes time to be thorough and to give each and every application the considerable care it deserves, particular through an equity lens — and that is what we are doing. It is an exciting process!”
Some of those seeking funding for their communities and businesses are tired of waiting.
Anton Seals Jr. is CEO of OURS, a group that applied for a dispensary license, which is part of a lawsuit by applicants trying to find out why they weren’t approved.
Seals also is executive director of Grow Greater Englewood, a nonprofit that promotes urban farming. He advocates “bold, audacious” improvements to the South Side neighborhood, including affordable housing, a recreational trail and job training in green industries.
He said it’s high time for the state to get going on its promises of community investment. He also called for some of the state’s money to be used to reimburse application fees and costs, while making sure that license winners truly come from disadvantaged areas.
“The grace period the governor had in the beginning on cannabis has expired,” Seals said. “People don’t want to hear all the hemming and hawing anymore.
“The state can’t just take people’s money while the industry is making money, but all the Black entrepreneurs get zero. We need real Black entrepreneurs in these communities, and for the rest of people of color, because we are in need the most.”
![Four years into cannabis legalization in Illinois, celebrations of the April 20 informal weed holiday known as 420 are getting bigger and more widespread. Named for the time of day a group of friends met to get high, 420 has become a chance for marijuana users to publicly share a previously illegal drug and the counter-cultural atmosphere surrounding it. The main event in downtown Chicago likely will be the second annual 420 Sesh Fest, at Green Rose Dispensary. The party will include live music, a magic show, carnival games, food trucks, pop ups, and product discounts. It also will feature Grammy-nominated […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ctc-l-Illinois-marijuana_175925141.jpg?w=546 "Four years into cannabis legalization in Illinois, celebrations of the April 20 informal weed holiday known as 420 are getting bigger and more widespread. Named for the time of day a group of friends met to get high, 420 has become a chance for marijuana users to publicly share a previously illegal drug and the counter-cultural atmosphere surrounding it. The main event in downtown Chicago likely will be the second annual 420 Sesh Fest, at Green Rose Dispensary. The party will include live music, a magic show, carnival games, food trucks, pop ups, and product discounts. It also will feature Grammy-nominated […]")
![A recent study that found dangerously mislabeled contents of unlicensed hemp products in Illinois, like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC, is prompting a renewed call for regulation. The study by a University of Illinois Chicago researcher, found that such products “pose a clear danger” and a “huge risk” to consumers. “Without regulations being put in place and then fully enforced, this danger will continue, and more people will be harmed,” wrote former university researcher Jennifer Bash. In response, Ald. Brian Hopkins called for legislation to ban or regulate such products. “This is a completely unregulated, Wild West environment,” he said. The […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CTC-hemp-farm08_176428205.jpg?w=525 "A recent study that found dangerously mislabeled contents of unlicensed hemp products in Illinois, like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC, is prompting a renewed call for regulation. The study by a University of Illinois Chicago researcher, found that such products “pose a clear danger” and a “huge risk” to consumers. “Without regulations being put in place and then fully enforced, this danger will continue, and more people will be harmed,” wrote former university researcher Jennifer Bash. In response, Ald. Brian Hopkins called for legislation to ban or regulate such products. “This is a completely unregulated, Wild West environment,” he said. The […]")