Hemp business owners sent a flurry of campaign contributions to key Illinois lawmakers this fall to ward off a feared shutdown of their industry, though it paled in comparison to the money that licensed cannabis companies have given over the years, state records show.
Hemp advocates gave more than $30,000 to oppose a bill they said would have shut them down, and instead favored a bill to tax and regulate hemp but let them stay in business. Much of that money went to the campaign fund for House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, who refused to bring the feared ban to a vote without 60 Democratic votes.
But campaign donations from cannabis businesses have a much longer history. By comparison, ICANN PAC, which represents state-licensed cannabis interests, made few political contributions in 2024, although it has been a heavy contributor in the past. The cannabis political action committee has given at least $287,500 since it was founded in 2018, and was especially active with contributions between 2021 and 2023 when various issues, including hemp regulation, were being debated. ICANN's biggest donations to date have gone to state Senate President Don Harmon's campaign, which received $185,000, and Welch's campaign, which received $57,000.
Cannabis companies favored the much stricter bill to bring intoxicating hemp products under the cannabis licensing system, which was supported by Gov. JB Pritzker, who criticized the influence of pro-hemp political donations. Neither bill passed in the General Assembly's lame duck session at the start of the new year.
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