It’s just a bill
Thursday, Apr 4, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Looks like we have an official Senate vehicle bill and a hearing target date for recreational cannabis…
There are no details filed yet for a bill to legalize recreational adult-use marijuana in Illinois, but that did not stop the state Senate Executive Committee from voting on the measure Wednesday.
As it stands now, Senate Bill 7 is what is referred to as a “shell bill,” which can be amended with substantial language in the future. The shell bill passed committee by a 12-4 vote, with all four Republicans present voting against.
“We’re going to be coming back to the committee with the full amendment,” said state Sen. Heather Steans, the bill’s sponsor. “Hopefully we’re going to file it by the end of April and we’re going to have plenty of time to hear it and debate it.”
The actual details of the bill are being negotiated privately by lawmakers, the governor’s office and cannabis industry advocates who say the existing medicinal growing market has the capacity to meet the initial demand of adult-use marijuana legalization.
* More…
Steans said she and other stakeholders are looking to allow people 21 and older to have a little more than an ounce at a time. They are also considering proposals to add three new licenses to the state’s existing medical marijuana program’s cultivation and dispensary licenses.
“So keeping the cultivation centers in place, but adding a craft grow license for a smaller footprint that could be loaded more flexible and have smaller capital entry requirements, a processing license, a transportation license and then the dispensary license,” Steans said. […]
Lawmakers have also talked about making sure there’s diversity among those who have legal pot industry licenses, including efforts to get communities and groups that have been most affected by the prohibition of the drug involved in the legal industry. […]
Lawmakers are still discussing whether the bill will allow adults to grow their own cannabis at home, Steans said. Law enforcement groups have raised concerns about a possible provision to allow five plants per household.
“There is discussion about maybe limiting that to just medical patients, which certainly may be an easier way of enforcing it,” Steans said.
* Maybe the Senate sponsor can give the mayor-elect a courtesy call before running this bill?…
Two days after Chicago elected a mayor who supports an elected school board, the Illinois House on Thursday approved a measure that would make that change.
By a vote of 110-2, the House passed a bill that would replace the current seven-member Chicago Board of Education, whose members are appointed by the mayor, with a 20-member board elected from districts across the city beginning with the 2023 election. The board would also have a president, elected citywide. The General Assembly would draw the initial district boundaries, and the setup would be phased out after the 2027 election unless lawmakers in Springfield vote to extend it. […]
Martwick, a Preckwinkle ally, publicly clashed with Lightfoot during the campaign when he crashed a news conference during which she criticized a bill that he filed that would change the Cook County assessor from an elected position to an appointed one. He later apologized, and he said Thursday that he’d “be happy to work with her” but hasn’t yet spoken to her about the issue.
“It hasn’t fallen on my radar because this is something I’ve been working on for four years, before she even mused about the idea of running for the mayor of the city of Chicago,” Martwick said.
* Moving along…
Illinois’ state treasurer could soon become the lien holder of your student loan debt.
An initiative of Treasurer Michael Frerichs’ office would allow him to refinance an Illinois resident’s college loans at low-interest rates in hopes that it will help them better afford their payments. The office could extend up to 5 percent of the $31 billion it manages to help with student loans. That’s about $620 million.
State Rep. Carol Ammons said the program would help reduce the number of local student loan defaults.
“The goal is to get the interest rate low enough so that people can really afford to make their payments,” she said.
Ammons said the interest rate would be set by the treasurer once the bill passes.
The treasurer’s office said there would be an upfront cost of $150,000, but the interest on payments from students should then cover the administrative costs thereafter.
State Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, told Ammons that while helping those with student loan debt is laudable, he said the state shouldn’t put taxpayer dollars at risk given the high rate of defaults on student loans.
The average student loan interest rate was 5.8 percent in 2017, which is almost a couple points higher than a 15-year mortgage, so it’s an issue. But the bigger problem here is the price of tuition, fees and books.
* More bills…
* Lawmakers Look To Keep 10-Year-Olds Out Of Jail: “There’s an implication here that these children are just horrible, horrible people and have done horrible crimes,” Gabel said. “But … in 2016, there were nine children who were detained based on probation violations. Those are not heinous crimes. There were no children detained based on charges of homicide.” That year, the majority of kids ages 10 to 13 were detained in four counties: Cook, Peoria, Sangamon and Winnebago.
* Illinois House votes to lower age of ‘Home Alone’ law: Under current state law, parents can be charged with neglect for leaving children younger than 14 unsupervised “for an unreasonable period of time.” Parents can be charged with child abandonment if they leave children under the age of 13 alone for 24 hours or more without supervision by someone over the age of 14. The bill that passed Wednesday by a vote of 111-1 would lower the threshold, applying to children younger than 12 The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Joe Sosnowski of Rockford, said lowering the age to 12 would correct the legislature’s “overreaction to a terrible situation that happened in which a couple left young children at home on their own for well over a week while they traveled out of the country.”
* Plan would allow shoplifters to pay rather than go to jail: State Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, is pushing the idea to let some shoplifters and thieves pay their way out of jail. Plummer, a freshman lawmaker, got Senate President John Cullerton to co-sponsor the legislation. Plummer said he worked closely with the Democrat leader’s office to craft the bill. … “Essentially, what it would do is allow that person to avoid a misdemeanor or felony offense,” Plummer said. “If they go through the process with the state’s attorney, if they reimbursed the retailer, then their record would be wiped clean.” The legislation includes a number of other rules. For example, the program is only open to first-time offenders and only for retail theft. Anyone who pays back the store then would be on probation for three years.
- Lt Guv - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:03 pm:
The Plummer bill is actually sane & rational. Are we sure it’s his?
- CPS Parent and LSC Member - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:06 pm:
This Martwick bill business is driving me nuts, as is the ridiculous press coverage (see Trib’s coverage, among others, implying that Lori is in favor of this bill). Just last week Lori sat down with WBEZ education and did a 30 minute interview just on education policy. You know what she said about this bill? Basically that it is terrible, that the board is too large and there aren’t appropriate structures in place for who can serve on it (read between the lines, preventing domination from CTU and the charters). She said she wants to study the issue in more detail but this structure won’t work. So what does Martwick do right after the election? We know he and she aren’t BFFs but this is a new low for him.
This issue is of generational importance for Chicago and needs significant discussion. It is supremely disappointing as a CPS parent that none of the house members or the press can seem to look more than skin-deep into what just happened. I can only hope this was a symbolic vote and that cooler heads in the Senate will delay this until the issue is more fully developed.
- PJ - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:10 pm:
== cooler heads in the Senate will delay this===
Well Cullerton has essentially sat on it for years. So unless that was all due to Rahm, he’s likely to be a roadblock again.
- Bourbon Street - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:10 pm:
I have a suggestion for Sen. Plummer: perhaps he should call his bill by its correct name—it’s a deferred prosecution proposal with full restitution to the victim as a condition—rather than implying that defendants can buy their way out of a criminal offense.
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:15 pm:
Marijuana legalization proponents are going slow enough, holding town halls, gathering data and coming up with proposals. Marijuana legalization and the fair tax in my opinion will be the first real tests of the Pritzker administration. There needs to be perseverance and patience if things don’t work out the first time, like with SSM and MMJ. Be prepared to fight on and run on those issues against opponents.
- Yup! - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:15 pm:
Treasure Frerich’s loan refinancing bill sounds like a great idea.
My private student loans are over 10% interest. My credit score is over 750, and I have never missed a payment. Yet, I have been denied countless time by companies to refinance. Being able to refinance to the state average of 5.8% sounds incredible. It would save me a lot of money, I could then use to pay the balance down faster.
- Just Observing - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:16 pm:
the “home alone” bill has been wildly misinterpreted all over social media (surprise, surprise) — current law did not prohibit leaving children under the age of 14, it spoke to leaving children under 14 for unreasonable amounts of time in unreasonable circumstances. Current law certainly allows an 11 year old to be home alone in a safe environment for a few hours. I actually don’t really understand the drive to lower the age — except in an emergency, I don’t know what circumstances it would be appropriate to leave a 12 year old home alone for more than 24 hours as the new legislation would allow.
- Rabid - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:26 pm:
US constitution ” to which the laws of nature and nature’s god entitled them” you couldn’t stop fermentation and you can’t stop germination
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:28 pm:
PJ, The Senate approved it in 2017 and it sat uncalled in the House for a year.
- Responsa - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:31 pm:
For years there were informal localized behind-the-scenes process whereby retail stores accept restitution from caught thieves with no prosecution, and enforce a ban on them ever re-entering the brand’s store, seemingly without regard to how many times the criminal has been caught stealing in other stores. This plan to formalize the full restitution through an official legal means and applying it only to first time offenders seems reasonable.
- Homer J. Quinn - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:55 pm:
limiting homegrow to medical patients is a false distinction and keeps the state in place as the arbiter of whose use is “medical.” If I don’t have to prove medical necessity to grow poppies I shouldn’t have to prove it for any other flower.
we all knew they were going to screw this up.
- Mason born - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 1:58 pm:
I have a question on the Pot amount. As someone who just isn’t into it, how much usage is an ounce? One day, 2?
I’m for it in principle without any posession limit, & think you should be able to grow all you can personally consume just curious what 1 oz means for consumers.
- Homer J. Quinn - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:12 pm:
mason born: could be anywhere from a few months to a few days depending on many variables.
- TopHatMonocle - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:20 pm:
Mason born, an ounce is a considerable amount for personal use. Unless you plan on smoking all day, it would probably last a recreational user between a few weeks and a month.
- Johnnie F. - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:22 pm:
Limiting home grown to medical patients means there is need to expand the list of conditions. The current list is very limited compared to other states. Personally I think recreational users should be allow to grow too.
- Cheryl44 - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:25 pm:
An ounce of loose leaf tea will make 7-10 cups (depending on type of tea, the size of the cup and the desired strength).
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:25 pm:
===how much usage is an ounce? One day, 2?===
For Snoop Dog, maybe.
For a light user ‘friend of mine’. That would last about a year.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:26 pm:
===State Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, told Ammons that while helping those with student loan debt is laudable===
…but
Honestly, this guy would non-ironically say that while kicking puppies is bad… and then add a condition that rationalizes kicking puppies.
Is there something wrong with the drinking water in plainfield?
- JS Mill - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:33 pm:
=Republican state Rep. Joe Sosnowski of Rockford, said lowering the age to 12 would correct the legislature’s “overreaction to a terrible situation that happened in which a couple left young children at home on their own for well over a week while they traveled out of the country.”=
Sosnowski is becoming the king of over reaction. His bill that was passed last summer allows families to run up $500 in debt for school lunches even if they do not meet the free/reduced criteria. That may sound like a lot but our lunch debt has increased 689%.
- Jocko - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:40 pm:
To the post (and Yup @ 1:15 pm),
I think it’s a great idea, so long as the applicants have good credit and work histories. Heck, SoFi is advertising rates of 5.99%.
- Mason born - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:40 pm:
Thank you to everyone who responded, i appreciate it. Doesn’t sound like an ounce is terribly restrictive? Though i think treating it like beer makes a lot more sense, have a big party stock up, wanna grow/brew your own go for it.
- Huh? - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:40 pm:
“Illinois resident’s college loans”
Include the parent’s PLUS loans. Would be a godsend.
- tgk - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:51 pm:
“Thank you to everyone who responded, i appreciate it. Doesn’t sound like an ounce is terribly restrictive? Though i think treating it like beer makes a lot more sense, have a big party stock up, wanna grow/brew your own go for it.”
An ounce runs about $400 on the streets, so yeah, i’d hope it lasted longer than one day or one party lol
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:54 pm:
–Martwick, a Preckwinkle ally,…–
With friends like that….
Was Martwick free-lancing or did the Preckwinkle brain-trust send him to that press conference to try to bully Lightfoot?
The footage of Lighfoot standing up to him was a great gift to her campaign.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 2:56 pm:
Looks like we have some experienced consumers on here. lol
- Mason born - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 3:06 pm:
tgk
$400 wow, ya you should be allowed to grow your own.
- SpfdNewb - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 3:40 pm:
-An ounce runs about $400 on the streets, so yeah, i’d hope it lasted longer than one day or one party lol-
I have friends (not me, pot gives me anxiety) who moved out west say after legalization, the retail prices dropped by over half within the year. One who moved to Eugene, OR was telling me he can get legal top shelf for less than $100/oz.
- Just Observing - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 3:44 pm:
=== An ounce runs about $400 on the street ===
For the diggity dank, but not the schwiggity schwag
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 3:59 pm:
If Jason Plummer is going to work across the aisle and help produce legislation that will keep people out of jail, I salute him.
- Kentucky Bluegrass x Featherbed Bent x Northern California Sinsemilla - Thursday, Apr 4, 19 @ 4:00 pm:
Street prices are more around $200-350 a lid just about everywhere in the state for folks who have a reasonable dealer. Michigan medical prices are even lower so there is a lot of leakage from Michigan in the Chicago and suburban market. IL dispensary prices are $400 and up depending on if the cultivator pays into the Alliance and their lobbying efforts.