Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon said his four-month investigation into the Social Equity Council — the government body that was set up to ensure the state’s new recreational marijuana industry also benefits the communities that were hit hardest by the war on drugs — found no “evidence of criminal wrongdoing.”
But the report confirmed some of the complaints that have been leveled at the council, and Scanlon recommended a number of key reforms, along with a continued hold on the expenditure of any of the council’s funds.
The council, which is responsible for approving applications from marijuana businesses and reinvesting the money generated from licensing those operations, has been in a state of upheaval for months due to infighting over how the body has operated and appropriated money.
The review was requested by Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.
The comptroller’s team found that there were significant delays in the council staff reviewing and approving the Social Equity Plans that are required for any cultivator, retailer or delivery service seeking a cannabis license.
Those plans are supposed to detail how each cannabis company will give back to “disproportionally impacted areas” — lower-income communities in the state that have some of the highest historical rates of drug-related convictions.
Establishing clearer criteria for the Social Equity Plans was one of the main recommendations that Scanlon issued to the state legislature.
After interviewing dozens of license applicants, the comptroller’s staff determined that the approval process for the Social Equity Plans was rather subjective.
“What we heard over and over again from the applicants was that they often felt confused by the process,” Scanlon said during a press conference.
The report said that, in several instances, cannabis businesses that were seeking a license were told they needed to donate more money to a given community, or they were encouraged to work with churches in the impacted communities like Hartford, Waterbury, New London, New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford.
It was also previously alleged that Ginne-Rae Clay, the former director of the Social Equity Council, suggested that a separate grant overseen by the Social Equity Council be given to a church that she attends in Waterbury, something Clay has repeatedly denied.
The comptroller does not make mention of that allegation in the report.
But Scanlon’s team prominently noted that the dozens of interviews and more than 1,000 they collected as part of their review were voluntarily given. And they emphasized that most of the interactions between license applicants and the council staff occurred over the phone and were not detailed in writing.
“It is important to note that the Office of the State Comptroller does not possess subpoena power,” the report said.
The report also called on state lawmakers to establish specific ethics codes for the Social Equity Council’s staff and board members and to more clearly spell out how the council can spend millions of dollars in state licensing fees, which are meant to be reinvested into historically disadvantaged communities.
Until those reforms are considered, Scanlon said, he is recommending that the Social Equity Council continue to pause any plans to disburse the $34 million in licensing fees that is currently available for reinvestment.
“I voted for the law that created the Social Equity Council when I was a legislator, and I believe in the important work that they do,” said Scanlon who is in his first term as comptroller. “But I believe that work can be better.”
Much has already changed since the comptroller began its review.
Clay abruptly resigned as the director of the Social Equity Council in July and has been replaced by former state Democratic lawmaker Brandon McGee.
The council is also in the process of developing a strategic plan to help guide decision-making in the future.
Andrea Comer, the current chairwoman of the Social Equity Council, said she still believes in the Social Equity Council’s mission and its potential to make transformational changes in communities that were disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.
But she agreed with Scanlon’s call for a continued pause on many of the council’s operations.
By law, the council will need to continue to review license applications from any new cannabis businesses. But outside of that work, she said, the council could use the coming months to finish its strategic plan and to implement some of the comptroller’s recommendations.
“I think we need to fully adjust to the findings of the report and then figure out a path forward,” Comer said.
This story was originally published in the Connecticut Mirror on Sept. 23, 2024.
