At a special meeting of Connecticut’s Social Equity Council the board voted to reconsider the applications of several companies that were denied social equity status earlier this summer. Nearly a dozen applicants have sued the Council, challenging the basis for their denial, claiming that their application was improperly reviewed. Most of the lawsuits center around ownership and control requirements. At the meeting on Monday the Council approved language to clarify the criteria for social equity ownership and control. The updated language has been posted on the Social Equity Council website.
Board member Ojala Naeem proposed that the Council reconsider the applications of several applicants who will be given the opportunity to resubmit documentation relating to ownership and control. During the discussion board member Michael Jefferson shared his concern about the precedent that giving denied applicants the opportunity to resubmit could have on applications in the future. The board ultimately voted to give five companies the chance to be reconsidered. The Social Equity Council says that despite the votes to reconsider they did not err in denying the licenses or otherwise fail to follow appropriate procedures.
Find the full story from WSHU here: https://www.wshu.org/connecticut-news/2022-09-26/regulators-give-7-connecticut-cannabis-companies-another-chance-to-apply-for-licenses
Learn more about the updated ownership and control criteria from the Social Equity Council here: https://portal.ct.gov/socialequitycouncil/-/media/Social-Equity-Council/Announcements/SEA-Ownership-and-Control-Updated-09-27-2022.pdf
