Illinois Joint Committee on Administrative Rules Approves Tiebreaker Rules; Dispensary Licenses to be Issued in Coming Weeks
CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced today that permanent rules have been adopted for adult use cannabis dispensary licensees to be selected when there are two or more applicants in the same Bureau of Labor Statistics Regions with tied high scores. The rules, which were filed in June, may be found here.
The approval of these rules allows IDFPR to move forward in awarding the 75 conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses that were authorized by the 2019 Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Consistent with the new rules, IDFPR will provide a public notice announcing the applicants with tied high scores who, if they meet the requirements in the rules, may participate in the selection process for a conditional license.
“We are pleased that these rules have been adopted, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensuring these licenses are issued in a fair and objective way that implements Illinois’ equity-centric law,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor for Cannabis Control to Gov. Pritzker. “Additional licenses will be made available in the coming years and these rules will help ensure a strong foundation is established for the licensing process in the future.”
Once IDFPR awards a conditional license, the licensee will have 180 days to find a location within its BLS Region to operate. A license to operate cannot be issued if the location is within 1,500 feet of an existing licensed dispensing organization. More about the awarding of the conditional adult use dispensing organization licenses may be found under 410 ILCS 705/15-25 and 15-30 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
In addition, application scoring for craft grower, infuser and transporter licenses is being finalized, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture will announce award dates in the near future.
