cannabisnews.com: Chicago Mayor Wants MJ Revenue To Fund Pensions
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Chicago Mayor Wants MJ Revenue To Fund Pensions');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/29/thread29380.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






Chicago Mayor Wants MJ Revenue To Fund Pensions
Posted by CN Staff on December 13, 2018 at 06:12:20 PT
By Tom Angell, Contributor
Source: Forbes
Chicago -- "Illinois legislators will be taking a serious look next year at legalizing recreational marijuana," Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) said in a speech to the City Council. "Should they follow that course, a portion of that revenue could go toward strengthening our pension funds and securing the retirement of the workers who depend on them."The comments stop short of the outright endorsement of legalization previewed by the Chicago Tribune, which reported in a Tuesday article that Emanuel would "call for state lawmakers to legalize marijuana."
In fact, the mayor said during the speech that he believes "recreational marijuana has social costs that must also be considered.""And like a casino, revenue would take time to be realized. But if the state goes down that path, those resources can and should be used to further solidify our pensions without, again, asking anything more of Chicago taxpayers in general."In a document released to accompany the speech, the mayor's office said he "recommends ensuring that Chicago shares in revenue from recreational use of legalized marijuana and allowing Chicago to raise its own revenue from marijuana by establishing a home rule taxing authority."Emanuel's thoughts on how potential legal cannabis revenue should be spent come roughly a month before Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker (D), who campaigned on ending marijuana prohibition, is set to take office. He has pledged to get to work on legalization "right away."Emanuel, who previously served as President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, had a mixed record on marijuana while a member of Congress.He reversed his position several times on an amendment to protect state medical cannabis laws from federal interference, voting no on the measure in 2003 and 2004, before flipping to a yes vote in 2005. Then, in 2006, he reversed himself again to oppose the amendment before changing his mind one more time to support it in 2007.As Chicago mayor, Emanuel oversaw the implementation of a 2012 local policy to avoid arrests for many low-level marijuana possession offenses.While his new comments don't explicitly call for the state to legalize marijuana, his focus on where revenues should be directed help to highlight the fiscal impact of doing so, and help feed a narrative that the end of prohibition in Illinois is all but certain in the near future.A University of Illinois study released last month projected that legalizing cannabis in Illinois would create 24,000 jobs, generate more than $500 million in tax revenue and infuse about $1 billion into the state economy overall by 2020.Tom Angell publishes Marijuana Moment news and founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority. Source: Forbes Magazine (US)Author: Tom Angell, ContributorPublished: December 12, 2018Copyright: 2018 Forbes Inc.Contact: readers forbes.comWebsite: http://www.forbes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/NjkairGNCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #2 posted by SoupHerb on December 17, 2018 at 06:31:32 PT:
I am not surprised...
that the government has it sights on funds unfounded. They are counting the chickens before they are hatched!!!!
Projected income if controlled by the government are enormous but if the crooks(government law makers and enforcers) would just come clean and stop all the refer madness look at the situation objectively and well man won't last long enough to realize it, but, the re installation in the earths eco systems by letting the public grow their own if they so choose would first be a healthy boost to the place we call home and second the inflated value of the use would settle into a rational pricing so not like what the drug war is causing and has caused in many more ways harming people, families, communities and on would all come to a healthy halt.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on December 14, 2018 at 08:00:02 PT
Pensions
great Frontline show currently on PBS about pension funds. Corrupt state governments have conspired with their friends on Wall Street to empty out the pension funds of thousand of fireman, police, teachers, and transportation workers all over the country. 
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment