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- Social Equity FAQs
- How is active duty military time within the past 10 years treated for purposes of determining whether the Principal Officer has lived in a Disproportionately Impacted Area for 5 of the last 10 years and counts toward 51% of Social Equity ownership?
- What records are required to demonstrate that an applicant has been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated for any offense that is eligible for expungement under the Act?
- How does the Department calculate the time spent residing in a disproportionately impacted area?
- Does a Form IL-1040-X constitute sufficient evidence for DIA qualification if the amendment was submitted after the original submission date?
- What is the definition of a "full-time" employee?
- Do Social Equity Applicants get additional time to find a business location?
- Does an offense committed in a different state count towards the criteria to meet the definition of a "Social Equity Applicant" under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act?
- Does a "Notice of Foreclosure" constitute sufficient evidence for DIA qualification?
- To qualify as a Social Equity Applicant based on having qualified employees, do all employees need to be Illinois residents?
- For individuals who did reside in areas that were considered Disproportionately Impacted Areas, but were homeless within the 5 years of the last 10 years, what considerations are given to allow for individuals with this type of experience to show habitati
- Which types of documentation constitute sufficient evidence of residency in a Disproportionately Impacted Area ("DIA") and for Illinois residency?
- What documents may be submitted as proof of Illinois residency?
- Must a Social Equity Applicant operate the physical business location in the same city or town as the SEA residence?
- Can you provide a complete list of "offenses eligible for expungement under this Act"?
- If I lived in a Disproportionably Impacted Area 2 years ago for 7 years, does that still qualify me as a Social Equity Applicant?
- Do property tax records constitute sufficient evidence for DIA qualification for the year they were paid?
- What documentation is sufficient to show that an individual is an eligible impacted family member of a parent, sibling or dependent that was arrested for a qualifying offense? What if that person has a different last name? What if their name has changed a
- What does an applicant need to show to qualify as a Social Equity Applicant based on the status of the applicant’s employees?
Social Equity FAQs
How is active duty military time within the past 10 years treated for purposes of determining whether the Principal Officer has lived in a Disproportionately Impacted Area for 5 of the last 10 years and counts toward 51% of Social Equity ownership?
Applicants, including veterans or active duty military personnel, may use any residence listed on tax forms submitted to the State of Illinois as their primary residence as evidence of their residence in a Disproportionately Impacted Area. Veterans or active duty military personnel will not be disadvantaged by time spent away from their primary residence due to their military service.
What records are required to demonstrate that an applicant has been arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated for any offense that is eligible for expungement under the Act?
A record of the arrest, conviction, or adjudication from the responsible legal authority. One example of a document that may demonstrate a Principal Officer was arrested for, convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for an offense that is eligible for expungement pursuant to the Act is a "disposition paper" from the court in the applicable jurisdiction. Applicants that have had their cannabis arrest expunged in the past may: (1) provide a court record showing that an expungement was granted, (2) apply to the circuit court that granted the expungement to unseal the records of the arrest and provide a copy of those records to the Department, or (3) provide any other records that serve as evidence of the prior arrest, conviction, or adjudication. Affidavits from the accused will not be considered sufficient without additional documentation.
How does the Department calculate the time spent residing in a disproportionately impacted area?
Applicants must show that they lived in a Disproportionately Impacted Area for 60 months. The 60 months do not need to be consecutive.
Does a Form IL-1040-X constitute sufficient evidence for DIA qualification if the amendment was submitted after the original submission date?
A Form IL-1040-X is sufficient evidence of residence in a DIA for the applicable tax payment period, regardless of the date filing or the date of the amendment.
What is the definition of a "full-time" employee?
"Full-time employee" means an individual for whom a W-2 is issued by the applicant and is employed for a basic wage for at least 35 hours each week. "Basic Wage" means compensation for employment that is no less than the legal minimum wage of the jurisdiction in which the person is employed. Salary shall consist of all basic wage compensation not including overtime pay, bonus pay, stock options, awards or any other equity-based incentive, unreimbursed employee expenses or piecemeal rate of pay, or any form of deferred compensation.
Do Social Equity Applicants get additional time to find a business location?
No.
Does an offense committed in a different state count towards the criteria to meet the definition of a "Social Equity Applicant" under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act?
No. The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act only made offenses committed in Illinois eligible to be expunged. As such, offenses committed in other states cannot be used to qualify an applicant as a Social Equity Applicant.
Does a "Notice of Foreclosure" constitute sufficient evidence for DIA qualification?
A Notice of Foreclosure is sufficient evidence of residence in a DIA during the year of the Notice of Foreclosure.
To qualify as a Social Equity Applicant based on having qualified employees, do all employees need to be Illinois residents?
No, the employees do not all need to be Illinois residents. The applicant must be an Illinois resident but there is no residency requirement for employees.
For individuals who did reside in areas that were considered Disproportionately Impacted Areas, but were homeless within the 5 years of the last 10 years, what considerations are given to allow for individuals with this type of experience to show habitati
An applicant who resided in a Disproportionately Impacted Area but was homeless for some or all of the relevant time period may provide a signed Homeless Status Verification form provided by the Illinois Secretary of State (available here: https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_a230.pdf) to show they resided in a Disproportionately Impacted Area during that period of time.
Which types of documentation constitute sufficient evidence of residency in a Disproportionately Impacted Area ("DIA") and for Illinois residency?
Sufficient proof of residency is the same whether it is for Illinois residency or to establish residency in a DIA. Residency requires two forms of proof per person per year.
Acceptable forms of proof to establish residency (as described in the definition of "resided" in Section 1-10 of the Act) include:
A signed lease agreement that includes the applicant's name;
A property deed that includes the applicant's name;
School records;
A voter registration card;
An Illinois driver's license, an Illinois Identification Card, or an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card;
A paycheck stub;
A utility bill; or
Tax records (e.g. filed copies of federal 1040 tax return (without schedules or other forms), IL-8453 attestation of e-filing, or other tax records).
A document such as a driver's license is acceptable proof for each year in which the license is valid. For example, a driver's license that was issued in September 2017 and expires in September 2021 is acceptable as one of the two required forms of proof of residency for 2017, 2018, and 2019. The principal officer(s) needs to provide a second form of proof of residency for 2017 to 2019 and two additional forms of proof of residency for at least two other years during the last 10 years.
To satisfy the criteria for Illinois residency when the applicant is a business entity, such as a corporation or a limited liability company, the applicant must have been incorporated in and doing business in Illinois as of the date the application was submitted. A business entity can demonstrate Illinois residency by submitting the incorporation documents on file with the Illinois Secretary of State's Office. If the business entity was incorporated in another state on the day it submitted its application, the applicant cannot change its state of residency.
Any documents that were expressly listed on the application as acceptable forms of proof of residency remain acceptable throughout the entire review process, including responses to deficiency notices.
What documents may be submitted as proof of Illinois residency?
Two of the following: (A) a signed lease agreement that includes the applicant's name; (B) a property deed that includes the applicant's name; (C) school records; (D) a voter registration card; (E) an Illinois driver's license, an Illinois Identification Card, or an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card; (F) a paycheck stub; (G) a utility bill; and (H) tax records
Must a Social Equity Applicant operate the physical business location in the same city or town as the SEA residence?
No
Can you provide a complete list of "offenses eligible for expungement under this Act"?
Offenses identified in Sections 4 and 5 of the Illinois Cannabis Control Act (720 ILCS 550) that were classified as Class 4 felonies or misdemeanors at the time of the offense are eligible for expungement. None of these crimes are expungable if the offense was associated with a violent crime or a penalty enhancement for selling to a person under the age of 18 if the seller was over the age of 18. Applicants should review whether their offense was charged as a Class 4 felony or any level misdemeanor to verify their eligibility for expungement
If I lived in a Disproportionably Impacted Area 2 years ago for 7 years, does that still qualify me as a Social Equity Applicant?
Applicants must show that they lived in a Disproportionately Impacted Area for 60 months. The 60 months do not need to be consecutive.
Do property tax records constitute sufficient evidence for DIA qualification for the year they were paid?
Property tax payment records are sufficient evidence of residence in a DIA for the applicable tax payment period, regardless of the date of payment.
What documentation is sufficient to show that an individual is an eligible impacted family member of a parent, sibling or dependent that was arrested for a qualifying offense? What if that person has a different last name? What if their name has changed a
Examples of records could include, but are not limited to, income tax forms, court records, insurance forms, bank statements, pension payments, records from public assistance agencies, school records, birth certificates, official government correspondence, or other government records. In the event of a name change, applicants should provide the court records or other government documents documenting that name change.
What does an applicant need to show to qualify as a Social Equity Applicant based on the status of the applicant’s employees?
To demonstrate evidence as a Social Equity Applicant through employment, applicants must submit something more than a mere statement of qualification. Applicants should submit sufficient records to establish the employees as meeting social equity criteria and to establish their employment with applicant. Examples of such records include, but are not limited to, W-2 and/or W-4 forms, pay stubs, New Hire Reporting Forms submitted to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, payroll records, residency records, income tax forms, court records and disposition papers, utility bills, insurance forms, bank statements, pension payments, records from public assistance agencies, court records, government records and school records.