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Evanston will use recreational marijuana sales tax proceeds to fund local reparations program

By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
PIONEER PRESS
NOV 27, 2019

Evanston aldermen on Monday approved directing all sales tax revenue collected from recreational marijuana purchases to a fund that will establish a local reparations program.

Officials say the program will help the city’s black population stay in Evanston while also providing training for jobs and other benefits.

“We can implement funding to directly invest in black Evanston,” said Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, 5th Ward, who proposed the reparations bill.

While Evanston officials have voted to permit, tax and appropriate money from recreational marijuana sales, many other suburbs have voted not to allow recreational marijuana dispensaries to open when the businesses become legal next year under state law.

Evanston leaders say they see the dispensaries as an opportunity to pay for a local reparations program that would address the lingering institutional effects of slavery and discrimination. The proposal passed 8-1, with Ald. Tom Suffredin, 6th Ward, voting against it.

Simmons said the source of the money was especially appropriate, as many black residents were victims of the “war on drugs” and spent time in jail for smoking marijuana, a substance that in specific quantities will now be permitted in Illinois.

The tax on marijuana will “be invested in the community it unfairly policed and damaged,” Simmons said.

A committee of residents is currently examining ways to spend the money and how to best support the black community through housing, education and economic incentives. The fund will be capped at $10 million, according to city of Evanston staff reports. City estimates project the marijuana tax could generate $500,000 to $750,000 per year.

“This is a really special moment in the city of Evanston and also in the country,” said Ald. Peter Braithwaite, 2nd Ward.

Community members attending the meeting praised the effort and thanked the council for investing in residents who were harmed by discriminatory housing and other past policies.

“I support the approval of the ordinance for the city of Evanston to commit all of the anticipated tax revenue from the recreational marijuana businesses, to support work aimed at intentionally repairing harms done to the black community from policies and practices in so many different areas,” said Oliver Ruff, a retired teacher and Evanston resident.

Simmons’ proposal came as Evanston’s black population decreased from 22.5% of the population in 2000 to 16.9% in 2017, according to U.S. Census data.

The idea that the United States should make reparations to the descendants of slaves has been part of the national conversation since the slave trade ended, but there has been little formal action and much debate. Questions include what form reparations should take, and what institutions or individuals should make them.

Frustrated by the lack of action at the national level, Rue Simmons has said she believed a local reparations program could gain traction quickly and have a more immediate impact.

Aldermen Monday praised their local effort, which no one spoke against at the meeting, as a good start.

“We are on the right track,” said Ald. Ann Rainey, 8th Ward.

There is a touch of irony here.

Nah, it's just free money raining from the sky so that politicians can get re-elected or elected to higher (geddit?) office.

Wow. More than a little irony. I hope everyone gets repaired real good. In fact they should double their intake to raise even more funds.

The price with these taxes will be so high that the buyers will turn back to the illicit market.

Then, no tax dollars, plus if you bust someone with a small quantity of marijuana, how with the evanston.il.gov prove it was not purchased legally?

Don't want to contribute to the program?
Buy it in a different city.

So stupid that any tax dollars at all go to that.

And remember, Evanston is a well-to-do, mostly white suburb. Evanston was not a hotbed of the slave trade before the Civil War either.

But don't worry - true to Illinois politics, they'll pay out about twice as much in reparations as they receive in tax revenue.

So they are discontinuing Affirmative Action since it served the same purpose? Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

quote:

Evanston leaders say they see the dispensaries as an opportunity to pay for a local reparations program that would address the lingering institutional effects of slavery and discrimination. The proposal passed 8-1, with Ald. Tom Suffredin, 6th Ward, voting against it.

Simmons said the source of the money was especially appropriate, as many black residents were victims of the “war on drugs” and spent time in jail for smoking marijuana, a substance that in specific quantities will now be permitted in Illinois.

The tax on marijuana will “be invested in the community it unfairly policed and damaged,” Simmons said.

The tax won't take in anywhere near what they predict.
You see... government doesn't "spend" money. It "invests in the community".
So if they spend more than they take in... it really doesn't matter, because it's an "investment in the community".


Do these nitwits really think that people who smoke marijuana are going to quit buying it wherever they currently get it in order to pay more just to make it "legal"? Really?

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
Then, no tax dollars, plus if you bust someone with a small quantity of marijuana, how with the evanston.il.gov prove it was not purchased legally?

Tax stamps. They'll make it mandatory that all weed me contained in the original bag and must have a tax stamp. That way they can get you for tax evasion. It's the Chicago way.

Texas used to have a program similar. ANYONE could go buy a sheet of MJ or Cocaine tax stamps. They were for sale to the public and folks collected them. However the idea was that if you got caught with large amounts (they were going after traffickers) without a tax stamp, they went after you on tax evasion charges and could seize ALL your possessions. It was civil forfeiture before that was a thing.

That's it. They have gone too far. I'm not buying my weed in Evanston anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
There is a touch of irony here.

'And/Or', a huge touch of stupid.

I didn't think anyone could be that dumb but the bitch proved me wrong.

They should have the recipients prove they were slaves first and those paying the tax prove they owned slaves. Otherwise they would be punishing the wrong people. Oh wait...

It's Illinois, they're liberal IDIOTS.

But wait there's more.

https://activistmommy.com/hous...eparations-tax-bill/

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
There is a touch of irony here.

One of a couple thoughts that hit me as soon as I read the article.

I predict that the jobless rate, whatever it might be, as well as crime stats, and marijuana use will continue at whatever rates they currently are at...only some reparation advocacy activists will enrich themselves at the tax payer's expense...and the price of mj will increase accordingly, while local sales decrease.

Let's see, they collect 1 million in taxes, and after everyone gets their taste, I figure they will be able to net about 10k.

quote:

And remember, Evanston is a well-to-do, mostly white suburb. Evanston was not a hotbed of the slave trade before the Civil War either.

But don't worry - true to Illinois politics, they'll pay out about twice as much in reparations as they receive in tax revenue.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah pretty well to do but not quite Kenilworth or Glencoe. My uncle attended grad school at Northwestern. Hmmm there were some blacks on the football team back then in the 1950s but it has always been a pretty liberal enclave populated with Professors, students of well to do families and of course a medicore football program. There are quite a few miles between Evanston and Lawndale. I am surprised this made the news considering that Mayor Lighfoot fired Chicago's top cop today.

First the politicians make you feel guilty about something you never done then they tax you for it to relieve your guilt. Works every time.