Illinois has a brand new high hashish regulator following an appointment from Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday.
Pritzker announced that Erin A. Johnson will now function the state’s Hashish Regulation Oversight Officer. Johnson replaces Danielle Perry, who left the position earlier this yr.
“Erin Johnson’s dedication to fairness will serve Illinois properly as she takes the reins because the state’s Hashish Regulation Oversight Officer,” Pritzker, a Democrat, mentioned in an announcement on Monday. “From serving because the Chief of Employees on the Illinois Division of Juvenile Justice to working as Affiliate Common Counsel and Chief Variety Officer, Erin has the expertise, training, and experience to thrive on this position whereas advancing hashish fairness all through Illinois. I can consider no higher particular person than Erin to function our Hashish Regulation Oversight Officer and I want her all the most effective on this new place.”
The Hashish Regulation Oversight Workplace is “part of the Illinois Division of Monetary and Skilled Regulation and is chargeable for coordinating with quite a few state companies to direct the regulation and taxation of Illinois’ hashish trade,” in accordance with the governor’s workplace.
“This work is finished to make sure Illinois’ social fairness objectives are met by means of expungements, neighborhood reinvestment, and the diversification of the state’s hashish trade,” mentioned the press launch from Pritzker’s workplace.
Johnson’s appointment should be confirmed by the Illinois state Senate.
“I’m extremely grateful to Governor Pritzker for trusting me to steer the administration’s hashish regulation efforts,” Johnson mentioned in Monday’s press launch. “Collectively we are going to transfer Illinois ahead and proceed to construct a hashish trade that’s pushed by social fairness, offering alternatives and righting generations of wrongs.”
Pritzker, who received re-election earlier this month, signed the invoice that legalized leisure hashish in Illinois in the summertime of 2019. Within the three years since, the governor has made the brand new adult-use marijuana program a centerpiece of his tenure.
Earlier this month, Pritzker introduced that the state was earmarking $8.75 million in loans to “all conditionally-approved social fairness mortgage candidates with a purpose to present speedy entry to capital.”
“Fairness has at all times been on the core of our hashish legalization course of. It’s why we expunged tons of of hundreds [of] low-level hashish costs and instituted the Hashish Social Fairness Mortgage Program. However I do know that if we need to create a very equitable hashish trade in Illinois, we should give our enterprise house owners the sources they should develop—each figuratively and actually,” mentioned Pritzker. “That’s why we’re launching this Direct Forgivable Mortgage Program to offer a much-needed jumpstart for social fairness candidates who’ve confronted hurdles in pursuit of capital funding. This $8.75 million will assist our social fairness licensees open their doorways for enterprise—a significant step in the direction of making a affluent hashish trade right here in Illinois.”
The governor’s workplace defined that this system “is a first-of-its-kind program that launched in the summertime of 2021 with the aim of offering low-interest loans to social fairness licensees by means of a partnership with lending establishments,” and that contributors in this system “have encountered vital delays in receiving capital by means of monetary establishments as a result of complexities of navigating a brand new trade that continues to be unlawful below federal regulation, in addition to establishments’ fiduciary, regulatory duties and underwriting requirements which might be set unbiased of this system.”
“The brand new Direct Forgivable Mortgage Program totally financed by the State presents funding for all eligible program contributors upon the submission of required documentation,” Pritzker’s workplace defined. “As a result of [the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity] has already obtained vital documentation from program contributors, the extra documentation necessities for a direct forgivable mortgage are minimal to permit for immediate disbursal of funds. The forgivable mortgage has an 18-month grace interval with no funds or curiosity accrued to offer companies with flexibility.”