With a grand jury decision expected any day in Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has put the Illinois National Guard into a “state of readiness” in the event of any unrest in Chicago or in other parts of the state.
According to a statement from Pritzker’s office, additional Illinois State Police troopers will also be available if needed in the aftermath of the grand jury’s decision in the Taylor case.
“The governor and (Chicago Mayor Lori) Lightfoot met this morning and are in regular communication, and the governor has spoken with leaders across the state,” according to a statement from the governor’s office. “As the governor has always said, all of the state’s resources are available to municipalities if needed, and this includes additional Illinois State Police troopers and the National Guard.
“The governor is putting the Guard in a state of readiness to ensure they are available if municipalities request their assistance,” the statement continued.
A source said more than 100 Guard members are preparing.
If needed to respond, the Guard members would fall under the direction of the state police, just as they were when they helped during civil unrest in Chicago following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.
The deaths of Taylor and Floyd sparked outrage in Louisville, Minneapolis and other U.S. cities, leading to protests and a renewed national conversation about systemic racism and law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans. But cities including Chicago also endured looting and other civil unrest.
On Tuesday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared a state of emergency as the city awaits state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s decision. The declaration gives the mayor the authority to impose curfews and other restrictions if necessary.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Stay tuned…
Grand jury indicts 1 officer on criminal charges 6 months after Breonna Taylor fatally shot by police in Kentucky.
Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) issued the following statement in reaction to Detective Brett Hankinson being charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree in the murder of Breonna Taylor in her Louisville apartment on March 13. No charges were brought against Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, the other two officers involved in the shooting.
“It is impossible to express the weight of the injustices and cruelty carried out against the Black community throughout the history of our country. When an officer can justify the murder of Breonna Taylor as legal, moral and ethical, then walk away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, there can be no doubt that Black women do not matter in our country today.
“The pain, anger and frustration of this grand jury decision runs deep in every fiber of my being because it is a personal attack on my humanity as a Black woman and on all the Black women I hold dear to me. Breonna Taylor deserved to live, as do all of us.
“I ask for those who feel the need to unleash their hurt today to do so without destruction. Our communities have been struggling to survive for far too long and cannot afford more loss. We need to continue our fight in unity and power. Do not concede any points to those against our movement when they are just waiting to find a reason to continue justifying their racism and cruelty.”
That’s how Illinois Governor JB Pritzker described the decision to indict an officer with “wanton endangerment” in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. He was joined by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in addressing Wednesday’s indictment and future protests that may occur.
They urged peaceful protests. At 7:00 Wednesday night, Lightfoot said there will citywide moment of silence for the memory of Taylor. Lightfoot added “I encourage you to say her name.”
She added that the city is “ready” for the protests.
“We’re going to do everything we can to protect and support peaceful expression of First Amendment rights. But as we’ve seen people step over the line, we’ll be ready and we are ready to address that with the appropriate level of response,” Lightfoot said.
Today’s my first day on contract with @nprillinois! Grateful for the opportunity + loyal sources who kept calling and texting all summer even when I wasn’t full-time anywhere. I’ll still be freelancing a bit, too.
It’s 2020, so naturally ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted and sent to prison on corruption charges, would purport himself to be the new face of anti-corruption in Illinois. Why not? pic.twitter.com/3FznP8y0dZ
McCullagh also said in his release that Cappel is “bought by corruption” for not returning “Madigan money.” […]
State campaign finance records and a tally by the nonpartisan organization Reform for Illinois show Cappel’s largest contributors are mostly union groups like the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers. There are no direct donations from Madigan.
But McCullagh said in an interview that union groups, like the ones donating to Cappel’s campaign, have also donated to Madigan. The speaker has raised more than $1.2 million from the IBEW and more than $850,000 from the IFT over the last couple of years, according to the Reform for Illinois tally. […]
The Democratic candidate also attacked McCullagh for planning to hold a fundraiser headlined by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich whom she called a “corrupt liar.”
President Trump lost this district by 10 points four years ago.
* The Question: Other than a bit of publicity, can you see any advantage for a legislative candidate who uses Rod Blagojevich to attack corruption? Explain.
Third District Democrat Thomas Kilbride, who joined the court in 2000, is seeking his third term. His retention vote, from a partisan standpoint, appears to be the main event. Republicans haven’t been shy about calling for his defeat, and Monday the state GOP rolled out its Vote NO on Kilbride coalition, which includes “more than 500 elected officials, community leaders and activists,” headlined by all five Republican congressmen.
The group labels Kilbride as “Madigan’s Favorite Judge,” referring to the powerful House speaker and chairman of the state Democratic party, implying $2.8 million in campaign funding for Kilbride effectively bought his support to block changes to legislative map rules and “every major economic reform that could improve the state’s legal and business climates — namely pension reform, tort reform and medical malpractice caps.”
Kilbride just launched his retention campaign, championing his access initiatives and role in pushing to allow cameras in courtrooms and digitize legal records.
* Speaking of which…
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride is proud to receive endorsements from champions of public safety across the Third Judicial District as he seeks retention to the state’s highest court, with Democrats, Republicans, and non-partisan judicial leaders joining together to praise his record as a fair and independent judge dedicated to ensuring the legal system works for everyone.
To date, Kilbride’s supporters include law enforcement, elected officials from both parties, legal professionals, business leaders and other prominent members of local communities. The endorsements come ahead of the start of early voting on Sept. 24, the first day voters can cast ballots in-person and the first day election authorities can send mail-in ballots to registered voters. To retain his position on the state Supreme Court, Kilbride will need favorable votes from 60 percent of the voters who mark an answer to this question on their ballots.
“I am honored to have earned the endorsement of such a diverse group of law enforcement officials and members of the legal community,” said Kilbride. “In these highly polarized times, I am grateful that, though they may be Republicans, Democrats or Independents, they have set party aside to express their confidence in my fairness and belief that ‘equal justice under law’ is not merely a phrase carved into the marble above a court’s entryway, it is the bedrock principle that guides every decision I make. The people of Illinois deserve nothing less.”
“Some issues transcend partisanship, and that’s particularly the case when it comes to my support for Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride,” said LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton, a Republican. “My endorsement of Justice Kilbride is based on his record of treating everyone who comes before the court fairly and with the utmost respect for the rights our state and federal constitutions endow them. Fairness, honesty and integrity is what the men and women of law enforcement expect in a judge and Tom Kilbride has never let us down.”
“I have served 32 years in law enforcement, and the safety and sacrifices of the personnel under my charge is extremely personal to me. We put our lives on the line to protect residents of our county and to work to see justice done. It’s important that our judges are consistent, fair and balanced when they hear cases, and Justice Kilbride continually makes sure that everyone is heard, and justice is served. I have also been a long-time union member, and I know that Kilbride respects an honest, hard-day’s work, which I think is important. I think everyone should vote in favor of retaining Justice Kilbride on the state Supreme Court,” said Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley, a Democrat.
* Here’s the list, with Republicans labeled…
Adrienne W. Albrecht, Circuit Judge, 21st Judicial Circuit, Kankakee County
J. Jeffrey Allen, Circuit Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit, Will County
Paul Bauer, Marshall County State’s Attorney (R)
John Booker, Whiteside County Sheriff
Tim Bukowski, former Kankakee County Sheriff (R)
Gerald Bustos, Rock Island County Sheriff
Geno J. Caffarini, Bureau County State’s Attorney
David Clague, Knox County Sheriff
Terry A. Costello, Whiteside County State’s Attorney
Chris Doscotch, Circuit Judge, 10th Judicial Circuit, Peoria County
Kevin L. Doyle, Putnam County Sheriff
Stephen G. Evans, retired Chief Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit, Henderson County (R)
Paula A. Gamora, Circuit Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit, Will County
James W. Glasgow, Will County State’s Attorney
Jodi Hoos, Peoria County State’s Attorney
Justin G. Jochums, Fulton County State’s Attorney
Mike Kelley, Will County Sheriff
Michael J. Kick, retired Chief Judge, 21st Judicial Circuit, Kankakee County (R)
Stephen Kouri, Circuit Judge, 10th Judicial Circuit, Tazewell County (R)
Meeghan N. Lee, Mercer County State’s Attorney
Robert N. Livas, retired Circuit Judge, 12th Judicial Court, Will County (R)
Paul Mangieri, retired Circuit Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit, Knox County
John L. McGehee, Circuit Judge, 14th Judicial Circuit, Rock Island County
John T. Pepmeyer, Knox County State’s Attorney
Jim Reed, Bureau County Sheriff
Jim Rowe, Kankakee County State’s Attorney
Richard C. Schoenstedt, Chief Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit, Will County (R)
Timothy J. Slavin, retired Circuit Judge, 14th Judicial Circuit, Whiteside County (R)
Tom Templeton, LaSalle County Sheriff (R)
Linnea E. Thompson, Circuit Judge, 14th Judicial Circuit, Rock Island County
David L. Vancil, Jr., Chief Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit, Henderson County (R)
Dora A. Villarreal-Nieman, Rock Island State’s Attorney
On Monday, the Illinois Commerce Commission announced the moratorium on disconnections has voluntarily been extended by several state regulated utilities through the Winter 2021 for eligible low-income residential customers, and those who self-report to utilities that they are experiencing financial or COVID-19 hardship. Previously, several of the utilities had voluntarily agreed to extend the moratorium on shutoffs for residential customers until September 30, 2020.
At the request of the ICC, the following utilities have committed to extending the moratorium on utility disconnections for low-income (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program qualified) residential customers and those financially impacted by COVID-19 until March 31, 2021: Ameren Illinois, Aqua Illinois, Illinois American Water, Commonwealth Edison, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, and Utility Services of Illinois. MidAmerican will voluntarily extend the moratorium on disconnections for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program qualified residential customers through March 31, 2021 and is further considering additional options to help their customers during this unprecedented time. Additionally, Nicor Gas and Liberty Utilities have agreed to extend the moratorium on disconnections for all residential customers until March 31, 2021.
“Illinois citizens are facing extraordinary challenges due to the pandemic. Low income families and those impacted by COVID-19 should not have to fear losing basic services like electricity, heat, or fresh water,” said Chairman Carrie K. Zalewski. “The voluntary actions by these utilities will provide our most vulnerable citizens with some peace of mind, especially as cold weather approaches. We appreciate the utility companies for their responsiveness and action.”
The ICC reminds customers to call the utility company if you have missed bill payments or you are struggling to pay your bill. No documentation or written proof is necessary, but you must make the phone call and verbalize your difficulty. This action will ensure a continuation of utility service. Deferred payment arrangements are also available for both residential and small business customers needing help managing their utility bill obligation during these difficult times.
On June 18, 2020, the Commission approved landmark COVID-19 utility relief agreements in Docket No. 20-0309, which were the product of negotiations between thirteen utility companies and numerous consumer advocate groups and parties. In addition to extending the moratoriums on disconnections and late payment fees, the agreements provided historic consumer protections involving utility credit and collection practices, deferred payment agreements, temporary waivers of reconnection fees and new deposit requirements.
More details on the Stipulations, each utility’s commitments and compliance reports are available on the Commission website in the ICC Docket 20-0309. To learn more about the Commission’s response to COVID-19, please visit: www.icc.illinois.gov/home/covid-19.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 1,531 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 30 additional confirmed deaths.
• Coles County: 2 males 80s
• Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 60s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
• Crawford County: 1 male 70s
• DuPage County: 1 female 80s
• Greene County: 1 female 90s
• Jefferson County; 1 male 50s
• Jersey County: 1 male 80s
• Lake County: 1 female 70s
• LaSalle County: 1 male 70s
• Livingston County: 1 female 80s
• Madison County: 1 female 80s
• McLean County: 1 male 80s
• Morgan County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90s
• St. Clair County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
• Tazewell County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
• Will County: 1 male 70s
• Williamson County: 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 277,266 cases, including 8,486 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from September 15 – September 21 is 3.5%. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 41,829 specimens for a total of 5,185,216. As of last night, 1,455 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 367 patients were in the ICU and 153 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting separately both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
* To be clear, this FOP lodge does not represent any Department of Corrections employees in the collective bargaining process. The lodge is a fraternal organization, not a union. But the subject of this social media post certainly provides us with a disturbing look at the mindset of some IDoC workers. It’s a best seller, eh?…
* Anders Lindall at AFSCME Council 31, which actually represents IDoC workers in contract matters…
Corrections employees are not “cage fighters”. They are security staff, counselors, therapists, health care providers, maintenance and dietary and clerical workers and many more charged with keeping the public safe and rehabilitating inmates to return to their communities.
AFSCME is proud to represent these thousands of men and women who do essential work in very difficult circumstances. Especially now when corrections employees are putting themselves at even greater risk to serve amid a pandemic, negative portrayals like this one are offensive and disturbing.
* Jordan Abudayyeh at the governor’s office…
The administration is deeply disturbed by the message this shirt sends and remains committed to criminal justice reform centered on rehabilitation for those who are serving sentences at DOC. The views expressed on this article of clothing are abhorrent and out of line with the values of this administration.
* Related…
* Three Illinois Prison Guards Face U.S. Civil Rights Charges in Inmate’s Beating Death: The three men assaulted Mr. Earvin “without legal justification” while he was handcuffed “and posed no physical threat,” the United States Attorney’s Office said. After the assault, the men filed “knowingly false incident reports that failed to disclose any assault” of Mr. Earvin, the office said.
* This is not a surprise because others have found the same problems, but still…
Under Fritz Kaegi’s predecessor as Cook County assessor, commercial properties as a group were valued far too low, valuations varied widely among similar properties, and the property tax burden was unfairly shifted onto the owners of less expensive properties, according to a new study Kaegi commissioned from an international nonprofit organization.
The broad undervaluation of commercial properties under former Assessor Joseph Berrios meant residential property taxpayers paid more than their fair share of the county’s tax levy while many higher-end commercial property owners got an unauthorized break, Kaegi said in an interview. […]
For the new study, the international assessors’ group looked at 1,643 business property sales throughout Cook County in 2018 and compared the sales prices with the assessed values. It found that in the county as a whole, properties were assessed at a median of 61% of their actual sales price, far from the group’s acceptable range of 90% to 110%.
The comparison was even worse in Chicago, where the median valuation of commercial properties was found to be just 52% of sales prices. For Evanston, the figure was 39%; for Oak Park, 43%. […]
The study also also found that overall assessments were regressive, meaning less expensive properties were overvalued and more expensive ones were undervalued, which unfairly burdens less wealthy property owners. The problem was worst in Chicago’s central business district and on the Near South Side and the Northwest Side, according to the group’s analysis.
Joe Berrios chaired the Cook County Democratic Party. Lots of powerful Cook County Democrats, including the House Speaker, are property tax attorneys and represent downtown businesses.
A well-intentioned mailer designed to remind Illinois voters of their right to apply for mail-in ballots has added fuel to the fire of an already fragile mail-in effort.
Letters went out last week from Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s office to some 5.4 million voters.
“Your local election authority had indicated that you have not yet applied for a ballot,” the letter stated. “However, you still have time to submit an application.”
Problem is, many who received the letters say they did apply for ballots, causing some to worry that the letters were fraudulent, or that their applications had been lost.
The law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June, gave local election authorities until Aug. 1 to send vote-by-mail applications to anyone who voted in either the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal election or this year’s March 17 primary. Applications also went to those who registered or changed their mailing address after the March primary.
The law also required the state’s 108 election jurisdictions to report to the state elections board by Sept. 2 the names of all voters who had received an application and all those who had applied for a ballot. The secretary of state’s office had until Sept. 15 to send letters to those who had received but not returned an application.
“Per Illinois law, the secretary of state’s office was required to mail out letters by Sept. 15 to the list of names provided to our office by the Illinois State Board of Elections,” Henry Haupt, a spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, said in a statement. “We complied with this law.”
But the letter — which reads, in part: “Your local election authority had indicated that you have not yet applied for a ballot; however you still have time to submit an application for a vote by mail ballot” — left some voters who’ve already applied confused, according to some local election officials.
Under the law, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s office is supposed to mail, no later than Sept. 15, to anyone who hasn’t returned the mail ballot application sent to them by the local county clerk or, in Chicago, the city Board of Elections. White did just that—“We followed the law,” says a spokesman—sending out roughly 6.4 million letters.
But the names of those getting the letters came from the state election board. And it got the lists of names from the state’s 102 county clerks and the city board.
Well, some of those clerks submitted their lists a little early, says Dietrich. And both the state board and White’s office needed time to process all of that mail. Bottom line: Someone who actually did fill out a mail ballot application as late as Aug. 27 may not have shown up yet on the list of those getting the letter from White that was mailed no later than Sept. 15. “There was a gap,” Dietrich says.
Per the new law, the Secretary of State sent letters to those voters Sept. 15. The message was brief:
“Correspondence was previously sent to you by your local election authority with information on how to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot. Your election authority had indicated that you have not yet applied for a ballot; however, you still have time to submit an application for a vote-by-mail ballot. Please contact your local election official listed in the upper right hand corner of this letter to complete an application, return an application or to receive additional information about vote by mail.”
In coming days, county clerks all over Illinois were inundated with calls from perplexed voters. Some wondered if perhaps voting booths had been eliminated in favor of an all-mail election. Others insisted they sent in their applications but now worried that some sort of snafu would cut them out of the ballot process.
The truth? The voting booths will be open in November for those who want to cast a ballot in person. And for those voters who submitted a vote-by-mail application, those ballots will be mailed Sept. 24.
White’s office pointed blame at the State Board of Elections, which compiled the mailing list. The election board blamed its list on the two-week time lag between when it received information from local officials about who had not applied and when the letters went out.
State election board spokesman Matt Dietrich also suggested the letter could have been written more clearly with a disclaimer to explain that anyone who had applied in recent weeks could disregard the notice.
A new state law expanding the use of mail voting requires the secretary of state to send the reminder letters. A second letter is supposed to be sent on Oct. 15.
A spokesman for White’s office said the October letter will be amended to try to head off further confusion.
“The fantasy of a constitutional amendment to cut retirees’ benefits is just that, a fantasy,” [Gov. JB Pritzker] said in his budget address. “The idea that all of this can be fixed with a single silver bullet ignores the protracted legal battle that will ultimately run headlong into the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
As a part of the organization’s larger series examining Illinois’ financial problems, nonprofit fiscal watchdog Wirepoints said arguments about the feasibility of pension reform continue to be shot down, even by Pritzker’s own legal team.
“His own lawyers are arguing that there’s an exception right now that applies to the eviction moratorium,” Wirepoints Founder Mark Glennon said. “When the impairment of the contract is reasonably drafted, fair and properly done, then contracts can be impaired.”
He said Arizona, with a nearly identical pension protection clause in its guiding charter, hammered out an agreement with firefighters to remove some of the agreed-upon perks in their pension contracts that place undue stress on taxpayers and put public safety at risk. Arizona lawmakers enacted a law that did so in 2016. It was not challenged in the courts.
* Jordan Abudayyeh at the governor’s office…
Clearly there is no depth that is too low for the right wing ideologues who don’t seem to care about the litany of issues facing our state during these challenging times. They instead remain focused on perpetuating the myth that the state can just shirk its responsibilities to retirees who devoted their careers to public service and that will fix our state finances. The ideologues had four years under Governor Bruce Rauner to implement their scheme that would magically fix state finances and they failed to do so, leaving behind a hollowed out state government and a mountain of debt. We’ve seen what the carnival barkers believe state government should look like, and the people of Illinois have rejected their sham.
Jordan is back after taking a few days off. She seems to have fully recharged.
The United States health secretary, who oversees the FDA, CDC and much of the federal COVID response, tells FOX 32 local kids should be in school.
“Illinois, Chicago are getting better in the sense of cases case counts going down and test positivity going down,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
He says Illinois is moving in the right direction and has everything for kids to return to class.
“When you have cases, you need to do the contact tracing within the school and test around them in order to contain disease. We have all of those capacities. We can get back to school and do so safely,” Azar said. […]
Even as Illinois surpasses 5-million COVID tests, Pritzker says it is too soon to ease restrictions.
“The answer is the virus is still out there,” the governor said.
Based on Illinois Department of Health guidelines, the Springfield School District 186 board voted Monday to approve a set of metrics to determine a return to the hybrid/blended model. […]
The metrics include a Sangamon County positivity rate less than or equal to 5 percent; a case count less than or equal to 50 out of 100,000; a new youth case count less than or equal to 5 percent and a weekly case count increase less than or equal to 20 percent
The county would have to meet all four metrics for two consecutive weeks before students could return to the hybrid/blended model.
The Jim Oberweis campaign has made a 500-point ad buy on broadcast TV in the Chicago media market that is started on Saturday.
The buy includes ads on ABC 7, NBC 5, CBS 2, WGN 9, Fox 32 as well as a cable buy across the entire District.
The ad focuses on comments Rep. Lauren Underwood made during a recent candidates’ interview with the Chicago Sun Times Editorial Board. During the interview she refused to condemn rioting and instead talked about “beautiful protests.”
“Rioting and looting and violence are not ‘beautiful’,” Oberweis said. “I have consistently stood up for law enforcement. I have advocated for defending our police – not defunding them and I have called for an end to the violence. My opponent has been given numerous opportunities to condemn the violence, but she continues to refuse to do so.”
[Bumped up from late yesterday afternoon for visibility.]
* Press release…
Following a careful examination of the process to award the first round of conditional adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses after receiving feedback from community leaders and stakeholders, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced additional steps to ensure the process moves forward in a fair and equitable manner. These steps will ensure applicants whose applications did not achieve the maximum score of 252 points will receive a supplemental deficiency notice and a score sheet identifying each exhibit to the application on which they lost points. After receiving the supplemental deficiency notice, applicants will have an opportunity to provide a response that amends the application exhibits or to ask IDFPR to conduct a rescore of their original application exhibits if they believe there was an error or an inconsistency in the scoring.
“As we worked with the General Assembly, equity and fairness have always been at the heart of our approach to legalizing cannabis, and when we heard significant concerns from numerous stakeholders about the process to award dispensary licenses, I said we needed to take a pause to fix their concerns, within the bounds of our landmark law,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “While this process remains a marathon and not a sprint, we believe that these new steps will inject more equity and fairness in the first round of license awards and provide insight as we improve the process for future rounds.”
The supplemental deficiency notices and score sheet will notify applicants which application exhibits did not receive a perfect score. For each exhibit, an applicant can either submit additional information, request a rescore of the exhibit, or do nothing and keep the original score on that exhibit.
IDFPR will review all timely responses to the supplemental deficiency notices and will issue a final score for each application. The Department will then conduct the lottery for Conditional Licenses in accordance with its tiebreaker rules. The Department will provide detailed instructions for applicants, including all deadlines, in the coming weeks.
“The Pritzker administration continues to work towards creating the most equity-centric cannabis industry in the nation. From day one of the administration’s work with the legislature, equity has been at the center of this legislation from day one of negotiations as we worked to create a system that prioritizes social equity applicants and reinvests revenues in communities hardest hit by the war on drugs,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor to the Governor on Cannabis Control. “Before awarding the next 110 dispensary licenses, as the statute requires, the State will conduct a disparity study to better understand how this new industry is working and correct any structural challenges to equity as we move forward in implementing the law.”
This supplemental process is designed to ensure the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act is implemented in a fair and equity-centric manner as intended by both the administration and the General Assembly and will be conducted in accordance with the Act. Applicants will not be permitted to change the owners or ownership percentages identified on their original application in an attempt to qualify for social equity status, Illinois resident ownership status, or veteran ownership status if the original owner or group of majority owners on the application did not fall into those categories. The points allocated for these categories are outlined in the Act and, therefore, can only be changed through the legislative process.
Following the awarding of the first 75 licenses, the Act provides that IDFPR must conduct a disparity study, which will be a comprehensive evaluation of the adult-use cannabis market. Based on the results of that study, additional measures will be proposed to further improve equity and inclusion in the market. The administration has already suggested steps for the General Assembly to take to improve the process going forward, including providing that all applicants who meet or exceed a cut-off score will advance to the lottery and limiting the number of applications one entity can submit.
IDFPR received 2,588 cannabis dispensary applications from 937 applicants, more than double the number of dispensary applications that have been submitted to any other state awarding a limited number of dispensary licenses. The applications also far surpass the 221 applications submitted to the state for medical cannabis licenses in 2014. The vast increase in the number of applicants reflects the significant steps taken in the Act to ensure a wide variety of applicants were given an opportunity to participate in this new industry.
In 2019, Governor Pritzker signed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act into law, the most equity-centric cannabis legislation in the country. In addition to committing to conduct a disparity study, the administration offered lower application fees, low-interest loans, and informational workshops on cannabis-related licenses to social equity applicants. The administration remains committed to upholding the intent and language of the law and ensuring the cannabis industry is equitable for all Illinois residents, regardless of background.
Under this new law, 25% of revenues collected from recreational cannabis sales are being directed to communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the justice system through the Restore, Reinvest and Renew (R3) Program. The innovative R3 program recently announced $31.5 million in grant opportunities to organizations working in historically underserved communities across Illinois.
Governor Pritzker is also working with State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, the Prisoner Review Board, and state’s attorneys across Illinois to expunge the records of non-violent offenders with a cannabis related conviction, with over 11,000 Illinoisans already seeing their records expunged.
For more information on the adult-use legal cannabis industry, go to https://www2.illinois.gov/cannabis/Pages/default.aspx.
