CHICAGO (AP) — The stage is set for a decisive legal battle in Illinois’ highest court between a large, well-established company and a far smaller upstart over a cannabis-growing license potentially worth millions.
FILE – In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo, marijuana grows at an indoor cannabis farm in Gardena, Calif. The stage is set for a decisive legal battle in Illinois’ highest court between a large, well-established company and a far smaller upstart over a cannabis-growing license potentially worth millions. The long-running case between Curative Health Cultivation LLC and Medponics Illinois LLC is expected to be heard by the Illinois Supreme Court early in 2021, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The long-running case between Curative Health Cultivation LLC and Medponics Illinois LLC is expected to be heard by the Illinois Supreme Court early in 2021, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Aurora-based Curative — owned by New York-based Columbia Care, one of the world’s largest cannabis operators — was granted the coveted license in 2015, then lost it after a lower-court ruled against it, before managing to get that ruling reversed on appeal.
Medponics, which wants to set up operations in Zion, hopes that the high court will side with it, clearing the way for it to secure the license. It would use it to launch a large-scale cannabis business that would include a hydroponics greenhouse in Zion, just north of Chicago near the Wisconsin border.
The city of Zion has backed Medponics bid for the license, with expectations that a land-lease deal with the company could generate some $1.5 million in new revenue for the cash-strapped city that was hit hard financially by the closure of a major nuclear plant in 1998.
“This is just the right thing to do … to award the license to them,” said the city’s administrator, David Knabel.
Many city leaders in Aurora, a suburb just west of Chicago, have been equally vocal in their support for Curative’s claims to the license.
The license in question, which is among the last of its kind to be disputed in court, would enable the production of large amounts of marijuana for medical and recreational uses, making it more lucrative than more recent and restrictive permits, according to the Tribune.
Retail cannabis sales in Illinois were expected to top $1 billion for 2020, and the kind of large-scale operation envisioned by the holder of the contested license could be valued at around $100 million, financial analyst Matt Karnes, of Greenwave Advisors in New York City, estimated.
The legal issues in the case are complex. They are focused on the vetting process of the companies who vied for such licenses some five years ago. Medponics said that, while Curative did receive the highest rating of the companies considered, it should have been disqualified because its operations would be too close to an area zoned exclusively for residential purposes.
The lower court judge, Michael Fusz, agreed with Medponics in a lawsuit it filed in 2017, saying in his written ruling that Illinois’ agriculture department didn’t properly apply state law in picking Curative.
“The award of the license to Curative is therefore clearly erroneous; the Court has the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made,” Fusz wrote.
But the judge also said his ruling wouldn’t necessarily mean the license should go to Medponics, which garnered the fifth highest score during the vetting. He said the department should reevaluate and rescore the applicants. A state appeals court then partially overturned that ruling, reinstating the license, concluding that the zoning issue wasn’t as clear cut as the lower court found.
According to the Tribune, even if the Illinois Supreme Court rules against Curative, it will likely still be up to the state to decide if Medponics or some other company ultimately gets that license.
What to know about Illinois reinstating federal jobless aid programs
Unemployment benefits to be restored
Illinois is working on restoring unemployment benefits to nearly 450,000 people whose benefits expired temporarily after President Donald Trump delayed signing a $900 billion coronavirus relief package.
Roughly 447,500 Illinoisans were at risk of losing jobless benefits entirely when multiple federal programs tied to the $2.2 trillion stimulus package from last spring expired Dec. 26, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
While it’s unclear when benefits will be restored in Illinois, state and federal labor officials say people will be paid for the end of December, even though the bill extending federal pandemic unemployment programs was not signed until Sunday, the day after benefits expired.
Here’s the latest on what the stimulus package means for unemployed Illinoisans.
Lapsed benefits will be paid
The state is waiting on guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor on how to reinstate and implement the federal programs, but plans to pay any missed benefits retroactively, spokeswoman Rebecca Cisco said.
The U.S. Department of Labor said in a statement Tuesday most programs will remain unchanged, but it will deliver guidance to help states implement new programs “in the near future.”
“As states are implementing these new provisions as quickly as possible, the Department does not anticipate that eligible claimants will miss a week of benefits due to the timing of the law’s enactment,” the statement said.
Extra $300 in weekly benefits
The state will pay out an enhanced federal jobless benefit of $300 per week for up to 11 weeks under the new relief package for anyone eligible for an underlying unemployment compensation benefit.
That is half the amount of the extra $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits most Americans received from the last stimulus package. Those payments expired in late July.
Extension of jobless aid programs
People who exhausted their 26 weeks of regular state unemployment benefits were eligible to receive up to 13 additional weeks of federal benefits under the pandemic relief package passed in the spring.
Congress has extended that program for 11 weeks, and allowed states to continue paying benefits through April 5 for those who haven’t reached the maximum number of weeks. The program, known as Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, will close to new applicants March 14.
The legislation also continues funding the state’s extended benefits program, which provides up to 20 weeks of benefits during high times of unemployment for people who have exhausted all other programs. The program had been set to reduce to 13 weeks when other federal programs expired Dec. 26, but the legislation means people will be eligible for up to 20 weeks.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program for gig and self employed workers was also extended and now provides up to 50 weeks of benefits, up from 39 weeks. The program closes to new applicants March 14, and will pay benefits through April 5.
New program for mixed-income workers
As part of the latest legislation, Illinois will set up a new program allowing mixed-income earners, who are self-employed and also earn some regular wages, to apply to federal programs. Previously, those types of workers were only eligible to receive regular state benefits.
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