Illinois: State Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) Introduces Legislation To Control Regulators & Their Families Entering Cannabis Industry

The Chicago Sun Times reports..

State Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) has now introduced legislation that would strengthen conflict of interest provisions in the legalization law that aim to prevent lawmakers, regulators and their families from profiting off the industry.

“For far too long in Illinois we have seen public officials abuse the public trust for their own benefit. It is time we enact much stronger ethics laws, especially concerning the growing cannabis industry where a lot of money is now flowing,” Moylan, a staunch critic of the legalization effort, said in a statement announcing the bill last month.

A conflict of interest ban was added to the recreational pot legislation after it was reported that state Sen. Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) was holding cannabis-related seminars and leading a company that intended to obtain licenses to grow and sell marijuana. Van Pelt was ultimately removed as a sponsor of the legislation and abstained from voting, but her involvement in the business sparked an investigation by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office that’s ongoing.

 

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For now, Moylan’s bill also wouldn’t affect five former regulators who are now profiting off pot, including those linked to startups vying for the next batch of recreational dispensary licenses.

  • Jay Stewart served from 2011 to 2016 as the director of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the state agency that oversees pot shops. He’s now consulting for Green Renaissance Illinois, or GRI Holdings, a clouted dispensary applicant group with deep ties to state government that’s up for the maximum 10 licenses.
  • Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnen was the deputy director of medical cannabis program from the IDFPR from 2013 to 2017, when she left to run for office. She has since collected at least $14,700 in pot-related campaign donations and joined AmeriCanna Dream, another applicant group looking to score 10 licenses.
  • Tara Meyer succeeded Degnen at the IDFPR, serving from 2017 to 2018 before leaving state government to become her successor’s chief of staff. Meyer is also partnered in AmeriCanna Dream.
  • Joseph Wright succeeded Morgan as the director of the medical program, serving from 2015 to 2016 and earning the moniker “Cannabis King.” Wright has since started a pot-centric consultancy in Ravenswood and a Canadian company called NuSierra that specializes in “pharmaceutical grade cannabis oil.”
  • Jeff Cox is the most recent cannabis regulator to jump into the industry. After working as the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s chief cannabis regulator from 2016 until last June, Cox is now consulting for pot firms operating outside Illinois and effectively circumventing the state’s revolving door policy.

Read more at. https://chicago.suntimes.com/cannabis/2021/3/10/22311602/illinois-legislature-pot-marijuana-cannabis-regulators-ethics-marty-moylan-patricia-van-pelt

 

Here’s the IL House Dems Press Release On The Issue

DES PLAINES, Ill. – Committed to ensuring a higher level of ethical standards, equity and transparency in the rapidly growing cannabis sector, state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, has introduced legislation requiring the public disclosure of all current and prospective cannabis license holders.

“The cannabis industry is a billion dollar industry that is still relatively new and it is still steadily growing, so we have to make sure that the licensing process is fair and the communities that should benefit do,” Moylan said. “There are plenty of cracks in the system, and the result has greatly benefitted a small number of wealthy individuals instead of a large and diverse number of local business owners.”

Since the legalization of cannabis for recreational use in 2019, Moylan has expressed concern over the fairness of how licenses were distributed, noting that the licenses are largely held by the wealthy and politically connected. The Moylan-introduced House Bill 402 would require the departments responsible for the licensing of cannabis dispensaries, cultivation centers and all other cannabis businesses to publish the name of all applicants and current license holders and the address for which the license was applied. The legislation aims to ensure the distribution of cannabis licenses helps the communities hit hardest by marijuana prohibition and prevent any political maneuvering in the process.

“The promise to minority communities and minority business owners that the revenue generated from the legalization of cannabis would be proportionally distributed to communities who have been impacted by drug enforcement has not been upheld,” Moylan said. “While this will help identify exactly where and how the issue with this process needs to be fixed, plenty of work needs to be done. We need to ensure this process is fair and diversified so that the cannabis industry is not controlled by a small number of the wealthy and politically connected individuals.”

For questions concerning House Bill 402, state issues, other legislation or district matters, please contact Moylan’s full-time constituent office at 847-635-6821 or email StateRepMoylan@gmail.com.

 

 

 

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB0402

 

Introduced , by Rep. Martin J. Moylan 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

410 ILCS 130/93 new
410 ILCS 705/55-30

 

Amends the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act and the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Requires each Department responsible for licensing of a cannabis business establishment or registration or licensing of a cultivation center or dispensing organization under the Acts to publish on the Department's website a list of the ownership information of the applicants, registrants, or licensees under the Department's jurisdiction. Effective immediately.
LRB102 10829 CPF 16159 b
 

 

A BILL FOR
 

 

HB0402 LRB102 10829 CPF 16159 b
1 AN ACT concerning health.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis
5 Program Act is amended by adding Section 93 as follows:
6 (410 ILCS 130/93 new)
7 Sec. 93. Publishing ownership information. Each Department
8 responsible for registration or licensure of a cultivation
9 center or dispensing organization under this Act shall publish
10 on the Department's website a list of the ownership
11 information of cultivation center or dispensing organization
12 applicants, registrants, or licensees under the Department's
13 jurisdiction. The list shall include, but is not limited to:
14 the name of the person or entity who is applying, registered,
15 or licensed; and the address at which the entity is applying,
16 registered, or licensed under this Act. This list shall be
17 published and updated monthly.
18 Section 10. The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act is amended
19 by changing Section 55-30 as follows:
20 (410 ILCS 705/55-30)
21 Sec. 55-30. Confidentiality.
 

 

HB0402 – 2 – LRB102 10829 CPF 16159 b
1 (a) Information provided by the cannabis business
2 establishment licensees or applicants to the Department of
3 Agriculture, the Department of Public Health, the Department
4 of Financial and Professional Regulation, the Department of
5 Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or other agency shall be
6 limited to information necessary for the purposes of
7 administering this Act. The information is subject to the
8 provisions and limitations contained in the Freedom of
9 Information Act and may be disclosed in accordance with
10 Section 55-65.
11 (b) The following information received and records kept by
12 the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Public
13 Health, the Department of State Police, and the Department of
14 Financial and Professional Regulation for purposes of
15 administering this Article are subject to all applicable
16 federal privacy laws, are confidential and exempt from
17 disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, except as
18 provided in this Act, and not subject to disclosure to any
19 individual or public or private entity, except to the
20 Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the
21 Department of Agriculture, the Department of Public Health,
22 and the Department of State Police as necessary to perform
23 official duties under this Article and to the Attorney General
24 as necessary to enforce the provisions of this Act. The
25 following information received and kept by the Department of
26 Financial and Professional Regulation or the Department of
 

 

HB0402 – 3 – LRB102 10829 CPF 16159 b
1 Agriculture may be disclosed to the Department of Public
2 Health, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of
3 Revenue, the Department of State Police, or the Attorney
4 General upon proper request:
5 (1) Applications and renewals, their contents, and
6 supporting information submitted by or on behalf of
7 dispensing organizations in compliance with this Article,
8 including their physical addresses;
9 (2) Any plans, procedures, policies, or other records
10 relating to dispensing organization security; and
11 (3) Information otherwise exempt from disclosure by
12 State or federal law.
13 Illinois or national criminal history record information,
14 or the nonexistence or lack of such information, may not be
15 disclosed by the Department of Financial and Professional
16 Regulation or the Department of Agriculture, except as
17 necessary to the Attorney General to enforce this Act.
18 (c) The name and address of a dispensing organization
19 licensed under this Act shall be subject to disclosure under
20 the Freedom of Information Act. The name and cannabis business
21 establishment address of the person or entity holding each
22 cannabis business establishment license shall be subject to
23 disclosure.
24 (d) All information collected by the Department of
25 Financial and Professional Regulation in the course of an
26 examination, inspection, or investigation of a licensee or
 

 

HB0402 – 4 – LRB102 10829 CPF 16159 b
1 applicant, including, but not limited to, any complaint
2 against a licensee or applicant filed with the Department and
3 information collected to investigate any such complaint, shall
4 be maintained for the confidential use of the Department and
5 shall not be disclosed, except as otherwise provided in this
6 Act. A formal complaint against a licensee by the Department
7 or any disciplinary order issued by the Department against a
8 licensee or applicant shall be a public record, except as
9 otherwise provided by law. Complaints from consumers or
10 members of the general public received regarding a specific,
11 named licensee or complaints regarding conduct by unlicensed
12 entities shall be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
13 Information Act.
14 (e) The Department of Agriculture, the Department of State
15 Police, and the Department of Financial and Professional
16 Regulation shall not share or disclose any Illinois or
17 national criminal history record information, or the
18 nonexistence or lack of such information, to any person or
19 entity not expressly authorized by this Act.
20 (f) Each Department responsible for licensure under this
21 Act shall publish on the Department's website a list of the
22 ownership information of cannabis business establishment
23 applicants and licensees under the Department's jurisdiction.
24 The list shall include, but is not limited to: the name of the
25 person or entity applying to hold or holding each cannabis
26 business establishment license; and the address at which the
 

 

HB0402 – 5 – LRB102 10829 CPF 16159 b
1 entity is applying to operate or operating under this Act.
2 This list shall be published and updated monthly.
3 (Source: P.A. 101-27, eff. 6-25-19; 101-593, eff. 12-4-19.)
4 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5 becoming law.

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