There’s still no planned signing date for a new Illinois law to assign 120 new cannabis dispensary licenses, according to a spokesperson for Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Accounting firm KPMG, hired to score the license applications, is still tabulating results, according to the legislation’s sponsor, State Rep. La Shawn Ford. Gov. Pritzker’s spokesperson said there are plans for an official signing ceremony.
The legislation, passed at the end of May, creates a series of lotteries to assign 115 adult-use and five medical dispensary licenses to applicants who applied in January 2020 for 75 licenses that were due to be awarded in May 2020. Those 75 licenses have been locked in litigation since fall of last year. A status hearing for one of those cases is set for July 15.As for craft grow, infuser, and transportation licenses, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Agriculture told Grown In there has been no change in their status since a June announcement of a round of discrepancy notices.
Forty craft grow, 40 infuser, and an unlimited number of secure transporter licenses have been held up since July 2020 following an executive order from Gov. Pritzker claiming delays due to the pandemic response. A demand in court brought by applicants demanding release of the licenses was turned down by a judge last December.
