Campaign cash in hemp regulation showdown is a bad sign about pay to play in Illinois

None of the finalists for a new Illinois state flag bears the motto: Pay to Play.

But a story about campaign donations from Sun-Times reporters Robert Herguth and Mitchell Armentrout shows that the state hasn't reached a point where Illinoisans can feel confident the days of pay to play are in the past.

Pay to play is when elected or appointed officials allow donations, jobs or other favors to sway the state's lawmaking or policy choices. Obviously, those entrusted with this power by the voters should avoid even the appearance of pay to play.

Yet the system was on display during the recent controversy over failed legislation to strictly regulate the sale of delta-8 THC and other synthetic, intoxicating hemp products. In a correlation between donations and official actions that often is seen in Springfield, political figures blocked the legislation — backed by Gov. JB Pritzker — after accepting donations from groups that would benefit.

Those donations just happened to come in the months before the latest showdown over the legislation. (The bill had previously passed last year in the Senate but failed in the House.)

The hemp products are often in copycat snack products that especially appeal to young people and have sickened children in hundreds of cases nationwide. As this board has said before, the products, generally sold in smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores, need to be kept from children.

Among the donation recipients was Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, who refused to call the Pritzker-backed measure for a vote. Pritzker claimed the "vast majority" of House Democrats and Republicans would have approved the measure. He also said, "This is a demonstration, from my perspective, of the power of special interests and the money that they spread around to thwart the health and safety of the public." A Welch spokesperson said the bill didn't have enough votes to pass.

Donations on all sides

The cannabis industry, which faces competition from businesses that sell unregulated hemp products, also has donated money to legislators, including lawmakers who backed the hemp legislation

For example, ICANN, a political action committee linked to the Cannabis Business Association, has contributed at least $285,000 to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle since 2020.

Charles Wu, a lobbyist for the Illinois Hemp Business Association, told the Sun-Times, "Both hemp and cannabis organizations, who are on opposite sides of this issue, have contributed to many different campaigns. With millions of dollars being spent on campaigns in Illinois, it is hard to believe that a few relatively minor contributions would influence someone's major policy positions."

Unfortunately, it's not that hard to believe at all.

Marijuana was legalized in Illinois several years ago, but it is highly regulated, whereas intoxicating hemp products are not. In recent years, poison centers have reported thousands of encounters with users of delta-8 THC users, which is not quite as potent as cannabis but still produces a high.

Did all those donations change any votes? No one knows for certain, except the legislators themselves. But it remains clear that Illinois' rules on campaign donations have too many loopholes. At times, donors find ways to obscure their identities so the public can't always see who is trying to put a thumb on the scale in Springfield. Tons of political cash have poured into recent Illinois races.

Lawmakers make decisions all the time about what legislation to support. Accepting campaign donations is not illegal. Donations help pay for the costs of running for office. Some reforms have been enacted.

But what are voters to think when the actions of officeholders appear to be aligned with the interests of those who give them money? What's needed is a system in which it doesn't appear campaign donations are creating a conflict of interest.

Illinois calls itself the Land of Lincoln, "Honest Abe." It should act more like it.

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