CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Governor Pritzker is defending the state’s process of awarding licenses for entrepreneurs to join the growing recreational marijuana industry in Illinois.
Two applicants for retail marijuana licenses who didn’t make the cut of 21 finalists are suing to block the lottery to award the licenses. They argue there’s no due process, and said it’s politically connected insiders who are the finalists.
Governor Pritzker said the goals of bringing more diverse businesspeople into the business are starting to be met.
"Sixty-two-percent of the applicants that are in this lottery are owners, who are people of color. That's a pretty good number; and when we are done with this process, we will have the largest percentage of ownership by people of color anywhere in the nation," he said.
Former State Senator Toi Hutchinson, who’s overseen the cannabis industry rollout, said about half the firms that did make the cut are owned or controlled by people of color. No people of color were in the first round. And yes, there’s disappointment.
She said 4,518 applications for 75 licenses - "there was bound to be a lot of disappointment."
Hutchinson, now a special assistant to the Governor, said the process is designed to be fine tuned.
"This is designed to see how the process ends, so that you can then be surgical in its repair, as it's tweaking, as it's going," she said.
And the Governor said he’s all for making the process—which is laid out in state law—better.
"There will be changes and fixes along the way. There are about 400 other licenses that will be awarded," he said.