Illinois officials announced on Wednesday that applications are opening for $45 million in new grants\u2014funded by marijuana tax revenue\u2014that will support programs meant to reinvest in communities most harmed by the drug war.<\/p>\n
This will be the second round of funding to be issued through the state\u2019s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program, which was\u00a0established under Illinois\u2019s adult-use cannabis legalization policy<\/a>. The law requires 25 percent of marijuana tax dollars to be put in that fund and used to provide disadvantaged people with services such as legal aid, youth development, community reentry and financial support.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIn the pursuit of justice, progress isn\u2019t possible without accountability. We must acknowledge and address the trauma inflicted by the war on cannabis, which incarcerated countless nonviolent offenders and tore apart families and neighborhoods in the process,\u201d Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said at a press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the core tenet of Illinois cannabis legalization framework and what sets Illinois apart from other states that have legalized: we\u2019re prioritizing investments in communities that were previously harmed for what is now legal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, $31.5 million in R3 grants were distributed to 80 organizations. The sizable increase in funding this time around reflects the boom in cannabis sales that Illinois has seen over the past year, with multiple record-breaking months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe R3 program is transformative because we were intentional about putting justice-impacted people, community activists, and local stakeholders at the center of our discussions to make this program work for those it was created for,\u201d Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D) said in a statement to Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n In 2021, we invested 25% of the tax revenue from adult-use cannabis into Illinois communities. That’s $31.5M of Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) funds to 200 organizations + partners!<\/p>\n Follow me today for an exciting announcement about the 2022 #R3<\/a> Notice of Funding Opportunity. pic.twitter.com\/7depdzmAeX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (@LtGovStratton) December 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Organizations that received grants through the initial R3 round<\/a> will have their funding renewed<\/a> for another year to ensure that they can continue providing services in their communities.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough every step of this process, we\u2019ve been very intentional about ensuring these grants go to the communities that need them and that they are used to benefit the people,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also held ourselves accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Angelica Arroyo, manager at the Chicago Youth Boxing Club, spoke on Wednesday about how the organization has used cannabis revenue to grow.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of the R3 grant we were able to do more,\u201d she said. \u201cWe stayed open during COVID and that gave us more community exposure. We now have more girls are boxing, too. I\u2019m proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n After issuing the first grants at the beginning of the year, officials convened a working group to make recommendations about how to most effectively disperse funding in the years to come.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve also worked to develop a merit-based grant application review process, with an independent body comprised of people who represent R3 zones going through bias training before determining funding eligibility.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know these programs will have immediate and generational impact so we must be, and are, deliberate about creating a framework for long-term, sustainable funding to do this important work,\u201d the lieutenant governor said.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me make this clear: We are not done. And today\u2019s announcement is a testament to that,\u201d Stratton said at Wednesday\u2019s event. \u201cWe have more work to do to repair the harm. We have more work to do to fill seats at the table. And we now have the program that was built for this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Community organizations can apply for state funding here: https:\/\/t.co\/7mMh6yvf9d<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n If 2021 is any indication, then cannabis tax revenue will continue to be a consistent source of funding for the program.<\/p>\n Marijuana sales in Illinois topped $1 billion this year<\/a>, a major economic milestone since the state launched its retail market in 2020. The state sold about $670 million in marijuana last year and took in $205.4 million in tax revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n The state generated\u00a0more quarterly tax dollars from marijuana than alcohol<\/a>\u00a0for the first time earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Revenue reported in May. From January to March, Illinois generated about $86,537,000 in adult-use marijuana tax revenue, compared to $72,281,000 from liquor sales.<\/p>\n In July, state officials put $3.5 million in\u00a0cannabis-generated funds toward efforts to reduce violence<\/a>\u00a0through street intervention programs.<\/p>\n Awarding the new grant money is not all that Illinois is doing to promote social equity and repair the harms of cannabis criminalization. Pritzker announced in December that his office had\u00a0processed more than 500,000 expungements and pardons<\/a>\u00a0for people with low-level cannabis convictions on their records.<\/p>\n Relatedly, a\u00a0state-funded initiative was recently established<\/a>\u00a0to help residents with marijuana convictions get legal aid and other services to have their records expunged.<\/p>\n It\u2019s these types of initiatives that Toi Hutchinson recently told Marijuana Moment that she\u2019s most proud of as she transitions from being Pritzker\u2019s cannabis advisor to the president of the national advocacy group<\/a>, the Marijuana Policy Project.<\/p>\n \u201cToi has been in immense demand for her insights and energy and enthusiasm for a long time,\u201d the governor said on Wednesday. \u201cWhat an honor for Illinois to have our own Toi Hutchinson leading the charge on a national scale, shaping the fight for cannabis justice, not just in our state but in all 50 states.\u201d<\/p>\n Illinois isn\u2019t the only state putting cannabis tax dollars to good use.<\/p>\n California officials have also made millions of dollars available for grants programs to support marijuana social equity initiatives<\/a>\u00a0and assist localities in processing pending cannabis business license applications.<\/p>\n In June, the Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development said it was awarding about $29 million in grants to 58 nonprofit organizations, with the intent of righting the wrongs of the war on drugs<\/a>. The funding is being provided through the California Community Reinvestment Grants (CalCRG) program.<\/p>\n Leading Marijuana Reform Group Hires Illinois Government Cannabis Czar As President And CEO<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Illinois Announces $45 Million In Marijuana-Funded Grants To Support Community Reinvestment<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Illinois officials announced on Wednesday that applications are opening for $45 million in new grants\u2014funded by marijuana tax revenue\u2014that will support programs meant to reinvest in communities most harmed by the drug war. This will be the second round of funding to be issued through the state\u2019s Restore, Reinvest, andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51766,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51765\/revisions\/51766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Illinois Announces Million In Marijuana-Funded Grants To Support Community Reinvestment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"