#heather steans

Tom Schuba at Chicago Sun-Times: 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker Saturday announced the full details of the much-anticipated bill that would lift the statewide prohibition on marijuana and allow Illinois pot shops to start selling the drug legally by the start of the new year.

The 300-page legislation would allow Illinoisans over 21 years old to possess 30 grams, or just over an ounce of cannabis flower — or the dried plant matter that’s commonly smoked — and 5 grams, or less than a quarter-ounce, of cannabis concentrates like hash oil. Additionally, Illinoisans would be able to carry up to a half-gram of pot-infused products like edibles, and people from outside the state would be able to carry half the amount residents are allowed.

While Pritzker didn’t touch on how much tax money could be generated and the bill doesn’t include revenue estimates, the governor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020 included $170 million in projected revenue from licensing and fees related to legal cannabis. Instead of extolling the potential economic benefits of legalization, Pritzker and his allies stressed the ways the measure would prioritize racial and social equity and address the toll of the drug war on minority communities.

“We are taking a major step forward to legalize adult use cannabis and to celebrate the fact that Illinois is going to have the most equity-centric law in the nation. For the many individuals and families whose lives have been changed, indeed hurt, because the nation’s war on drugs discriminated against people of color, this day belongs to you, too,” Pritzker said during the news conference at the Black United Fund of Illinois’ office at 1750 E. 71st St.

With just four weeks left in the current legislative session, Pritzker is hoping to notch a major victory by making good on one of his more popular campaign promises.

The bill’s sweeping criminal and social justice considerations include plans to use an automated system to expunge roughly 800,000 marijuana convictions and allow those with pot convictions to work in the legal cannabis industry. The measure would also create a designation for “social equity applicants” hoping to obtain licenses and provide minority-owned businesses support by offering technical assistance, access to capital and loans and relief from fees that have posed a barrier to entry for those looking to crack into the industry — which is currently dominated by a handful of predominantly-white medical marijuana companies.

State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, who contributed to the bill, said the plan “serves as the single-biggest piece of criminal justice reform as it relates to the war on drugs that the Legislative Black Caucus has ever been able to be a part of passing.”

The measure is sponsored by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy and state Sen. Heather Steans, Chicago Democrats who previously introduced similar legislation in 2017 that failed to gain traction under former Gov. Bruce Rauner. During the news conference, Steans said she and her colleagues are also pushing for “revenue that, instead of going to the illicit market, comes and benefits the people in Illinois.”

Under the bill, 25% of that revenue would go to areas that have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs and another 20% would fund programs focused on treating mental health and substance abuse issues.

Pot products with less than 35% of THC – the chemical compound that gets users high – would be taxed at 10%, while products with more THC would be taxed at 25%. Cannabis-infused products would carry a 20% tax.

Despite polls showing support from a majority of Illinois voters, pro-legalization lawmakers are opposed by legislators and special interest groups who have highlighted the perceived dangers of a legal weed market.

Tom Schuba at Chicago Sun-Times: 

With only five weeks left until the end of the legislative session, Democratic lawmakers are preparing to release their entire highly-anticipated bill to legalize marijuana for adult use.

With lawmakers preparing to return Tuesday from their two-week spring break, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy said the full details of the 300-page legislation could be introduced in the coming days. A shell of the legalization bill was introduced in the Senate in January and later passed the Senate Executive Committee in April before any details had been filed.

“We’re still on track and are hoping to have something to introduce this week,” Cassidy told the Sun-Times on Monday.

Cassidy said she and state Sen. Heather Steans, both Chicago Democrats, have tried to draft legislation “that centers equity and inclusion in the industry, that centers restoration of records and social justice components and restoration of communities.”

Under the legislation, which is being backed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, misdemeanor pot convictions would be expunged, people with cannabis convictions would be allowed to work in the industry and diversity hiring goals would be set for firms in the industry.

Additionally, Cassidy said, the legislation would provide support for minority-owned businesses by offering technical assistance, as well as access to capital, loans and relief from fees that have posed a barrier to entry for smaller businesses. To further crack that barrier, the measure would also create new cannabis licensing categories for “craft” grow operations and companies that process and transport the drug.

“I’ve said for a long time that other states that have tried this have tended to try with a solution, but that presumes there’s a singular barrier to minority engagement in the industry,” Cassidy said. “And that’s simply not the case. These conversations have been about the best way to set up sort of a buffet of responses to the array of problems.”

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, the joint chair of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, lauded Steans and Cassidy for engaging African American lawmakers as they crafted the bill. Lightford noted that caucus members have also had continued discussions with Pritzker’s administration about how legalization can be used as a tool for racial and social equity.

“The proposal that I’ve seen has some really good language in it and now it’s just the part of fine-tuning and making sure that advocates remain in support and removing as much opposition as you can,” said Lightford, who couldn’t say whether any members of the black caucus are opposed to the legalization plan.

But the push to legalize weed for recreational use has faced considerable resistance, including a resolution in March backed by the majority of House members that looked to slow down the prospective legalization process. However, the most sophisticated opposition has been coordinated by Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a Virginia-based nonprofit.

The group, which has staged similar campaigns in other states, has put together an anti-legalization coalition that includes the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the Illinois Chiefs of Police Association and the Illinois Drug Enforcement Officers Association. Most recently, the group has partnered with the Illinois Chapter of the NAACP in an effort to target Lightford’s colleagues in the black caucus.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana CEO Kevin Sabet said the group plans to continue applying pressure “from a press perspective [and] from a grassroots perspective.”

How would recreational pot affect Illinois’ medical marijuana?

The need for a statewide medical-marijuana program won’t go away if the Illinois General Assembly and Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker approve recreational use of cannabis in 2019, advocates of marijuana legalization say.

Those crafting legislation to allow production and sales of recreational marijuana plan to include provisions ensuring that patients in the medical pilot program have an adequate…

Robert McCoppin at Chicago Tribune: 

Advocates of legal marijuana in Illinois rejoiced when J.B. Pritzker was elected governor Tuesday — and they’re already saying residents could be smoking joints lawfully by the end of next year.

But for all that the pot lobby staked on Pritzker winning the key to the governor’s mansion, he can’t legalize recreational marijuana on his own. That requires an act of the Illinois legislature, and passage of such a bill is not assured because some state lawmakers, particularly Republicans and those from Downstate, remain opposed and are warning against rushing a measure through.

With Democrats expanding their control of both legislative chambers Tuesday, a cannabis bill is widely expected to pass. But what could be trickier than getting lawmakers on board with legalization, some observers say, is agreeing on all that comes with it — primarily, how the tax revenue it generates would be split.

“I suspect it’s a done deal,” said Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party and now a consultant and lobbyist who helped NuMed win three medical marijuana dispensary licenses. “People see it as a new source of revenue. The true battle will be over who gets their cut of it taxwise.”

Sponsors plan to introduce a new legalization bill in January, and hope to get it passed before the session ends in May. The proposed measure would allow the commercial sale and regulation of marijuana, similar to alcohol, for adults 21 and over. There would probably be a six-month waiting period for officials to draw up rules before issuing licenses for growing and selling it. Sponsors say existing medical marijuana companies would likely get the first crack at sales.

Until the legislature convenes, sponsors say they’ll continue to meet with stakeholders, including Pritzker, to revise final details on a wide range of issues; among the most important is the rate at which the drug will be taxed.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy and state Sen. Heather Steans, both Democrats from Chicago, would not specify what the rate will be, saying they will negotiate with Pritzker and others to craft legislation that will pass. But they cautioned against setting the tax rate too high, because that would hinder one of the main goals: to cut out the black market and related violent crime.

Pritzker’s election comes just as a new study set the estimated annual economic impact of legalization at more than $1 billion a year. The study, by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois, also estimated legalization would create some 2,600 businesses and 24,000 jobs, plus tax revenue of $525 million annually.

The institute, based in La Grange, describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank for workers; it gets funding from labor unions and supports many union issues. Study co-authors Frank Manzo IV, Jill Manzo and Robert Bruno, director of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Labor Education Program, say they are independent, using a variety of data sources and standard economic modeling. They estimated the benefits of legalization far outweigh the costs, and would save $18 million a year on law enforcement.

Kevin Sabet, head of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization, said he thinks the study authors are biased.

Sabet said they failed to account for the serious downsides of drug use, such as car accidents and substance abuse. He also said decriminalization of marijuana, which took effect in Illinois in 2016, addresses many of the social justice issues.

Holdouts against legalization remain ready to fight it in the General Assembly.

House Republican leader Jim Durkin said lawmakers should stop their rush toward legalization.

“I will never support legalization,” he said. “I don’t like how quickly we are moving. Illinois should not be part of this lab experiment. I see no societal value.”

Durkin supports medical marijuana for pain and end-of-life care and said that program appears successful in prohibiting access for underage use and the illegal drug market. He called for lawmakers to review the results when that pilot program expires in summer 2020, before moving beyond it, but said he does not know how much opposition remains in Springfield.

Backers of legalization maintain it will help fund substance abuse education and treatment. They also say it could mean expungement of past marijuana convictions, and that the bill could be written in a way to ensure access to the industry by women and minorities. It could also mean investment for poor and violence-wracked communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs and illegal drug trade, backers say.

An earlier draft of a legalization bill included a provision that residents be allowed to grow up to five plants per household and buy and possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis at a time.

Unlike states like Colorado, where designated cultivators can grow plants for others, Cassidy said there would be no large-scale growing in that way in Illinois. That would address a primary concern of law enforcement officials who worry about growers selling illegally and in other states.

And unlike the medical marijuana program, sponsors said, there would be no setbacks required from churches, schools and other sites. Instead, local community leaders would decide what sort of restrictions they would place on cannabis stores.

Sponsors have held several public hearings on the subject around the state during the past year, and there will be more public hearings next year in Springfield.

“This is not a cash cow,“ Cassidy said. “Our goal is not to make money. It’s to improve public health and safety, fairness and the criminal justice system.”

Cannabis remains illegal under federal law, but Canada recently legalized it, and Mexico lawmakers are considering doing the same after its Supreme Court ruled that a ban was unconstitutional.

Ten states have authorized cannabis consumption. Since Michigan voters approved legalization by binding referendum on Tuesday, the race is on to become the first state in the Midwest to allow the product. The Michigan law allowing adults to have, use and grow the drug is expected to take effect next month, but it may take another two years to set regulations for retail sales.

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Illinois Senate passes bill that requires LGBT history in public schools

More than 40 years after the Equal Rights Amendment was first passed by the U.S. Congress, an Illinois state senator is taking another crack at getting her colleagues in Springfield to adopt the provision that would enshrine in the U.S. Constitution the idea that rights can't be abridged on account of sex.

Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said the proposed amendment is still relevant today given the ongoing debates about equal pay, abortion rights and other issues on which women are fighting for equality.

And she said it's symbolically important to "get Illinois off the list" of 15 states that have not yet adopted the proposed amendment. The other holdouts are mostly traditionally more conservative states in the southern and western parts of the country.

"Illinois has been in the forefront of equal rights," Steans said. "I think this is some unfinished business, an opportunity to right a historic wrong."

Steans has supported proposals for the General Assembly to adopt the amendment in previous years, without success.

The amendment appeared to die in 1982 after only 35 states passed it by the deadline that Congress set after adopting it in 1972. That was three short of the 38 needed to amend the Constitution. Supporters of the amendment are now pushing a "three state solution," arguing the 1982 deadline should not apply. If three more states pass it, the supporters will try to make the case that there is no need for the U.S. Congress to start the amendment process over.

Steans' proposal is scheduled to get a hearing on Wednesday, she said.

The Illinois Senate has already approved same-sex marriage, and there is a chance next week of a showdown vote in the House in Springfield. But by most accounts, supporters remain a few votes shy of the 60 needed for passage.

“It’s very close,” Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) told me by phone. She sponsored the bill in the Senate that passed with bipartisan support.

In the House, state Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Chicago), a Roman Catholic, told me that though he’s on the fence, the amendments attached to the Senate bill that protect religious institutions from being forced to recognize same sex marriage helped its passage. And on those grounds, he said, “It was much more ready to go over to the House.”

State Rep. LaShawn Ford, also a Catholic Democrat from Chicago, is similarly on the fence but says he is open to the possibility of voting for it. But Ford expresses sensitivity to the Austin community that dominates his district.

“Most of our communities are filled with churches on every corner and . . . we have built relationships with those ministers and pastors. And want to continue to work . . . so they realize that one vote will not destroy our relationship,” he told me.

Ford, who says members of his own family are gay, sees this as a matter of human rights.

As the House wrestles, the conservative wing of the state Republican Party on Saturday canceled a meeting to dump its chairman, Pat Brady, over the very same issue. Brady publicly supports legalizing same-sex marriage. The conservatives couldn’t muster the votes to get rid of him.

“This is a civil rights issue,” Brady has repeatedly argued.

In the House, Republican leader Tom Cross has made it clear that even if he votes against the bill, he supports the members of his caucus who vote in support of it. Cross and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) have been crucial in mustering support to keep Brady as the chairman of the GOP.

Back in the General Assembly, a vote on the same-sex marriage bill looms large.

To put it in sports terms, as Ernie Banks and his fellow athletes did in a letter posted by Illinois Unites for Marriage, “Any time a player is not treated with fairness and respect, the game is diminished.”

It’s game time for lawmakers in Springfield.

Batter up.

An Illinois Senate committee advanced a same-sex marriage bill 9-5.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, next moves to the full Senate, where backers indicated it could come up for a vote on Valentine's Day.

Steans sponsored gay marriage legislation in last month's lame duck session, but could not advance it past the initial committee stage. She said the bill is necessary to provide "equal protection" under laws for same-sex couples when civil union alone fall short.

Bloomington's Danielle Cook, with her partner Suzie Hutton, testified the legislation is needed to "make our lives more complete." Cook said she has a civil union but that it is not fully recognized in social ways with the good wishes and congratulations that come with marriage or in employment settings.

Her face getting red, Cook said, "It hurt." She told senators she sees the couple's relationship as a marriage but is viewed differently because "marriage is the standard" of society.

The Rev. Suzanne Anderson-Hurdle of Good Shepherd Church in Romeoville said she is straight, married, a mother of three and a pastor who views the legislation as a "matter of legal, civil and human rights."

She said she has viewed ceremonies for civil unions as marriages, saying, "I believe these people are married in the eyes of God."