Job growth is good, unless it’s the government doing all the hiring. Unfortunately, that’s the situation in Illinois. The latest BLS data shows Illinois was able to eke out a gain of 17,100 jobs over the last 12 months, but only because government job gains offset the state’s private sector job losses.
Illinois education officials continuously claim there’s a teacher shortage across the state. Yet data from the state’s own Illinois Report Card shows that hiring at schools has been booming over the last 25 years, especially when you consider that student enrollment has been shrinking at the same time.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the failures of Mayor Johnson’s first year in office, what Chicago’s future looks like, why so many CPS teachers are chronically absent, the details of Gov. Pritzker’s $827 million giveaway to Rivian, and more.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 5/12/2024.
It’s no joke.
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Illinois pols will soon be able to say proudly. We have more people that are high now than a 60’s Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin concert!
“Illinois “had the most successful roll out in the industry,” Boris Jordan, executive chairman of Curaleaf Holdings Inc., said in an interview. Curaleaf is the largest U.S. cannabis company and its pending purchase of Chicago-based GR Companies Inc., better known as Grassroots, is expected to close in the second quarter, giving it a foothold in the Illinois market.” This guy is getting high on his own product, a big no-no. Illinois’s rollout is generally considered unsuccessful, as there were long lines, short supply and high taxes. Most, if not all, dispensaries, have completely run out of flower, and the edible… Read more »
“Illinois’ rollout is generally considered unsuccessful”
While Illinois certainly could have made even more money, long lines and short supply are not considered a failure when demand is so strong. By that definition every new iphone would be considered a failure. Also high taxes are a feature to this rollout. If taxes would have been lower it would have only increased demand further.
This is not even close to a disaster. This is one of the better things the state has going for it. Illinois has many issues but without legalization those much needed taxes would have never been collected.
That’s was a good laugh! Comparing long lines at Apple stores to long lines for legal weed! Illinois is the 11th state to legalize weed and the only state to have a supply shortage. Every other legalized state is awash in an abundance of weed which drives down prices. The only other state that has messed up a legal cannabis rollout is California, because high prices and a limited number of dispensaries has created a flourishing black market. In fact, there are 3x as many unlicensed dispensaries in CA than there are legal! The novelty of legal marijuana seems to… Read more »
You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. You acknowledge a shortage of product and then give an assessment as to how daily sales have fallen off from launch. We have no idea what sales would have been or what they will be but selling out of product the day it arrives means supply is not there. Sure they could have waited to roll it out until 2021but they wanted revenue now. Most states didn’t roll it out after 6 months of approval. None of that matters though. The only definition of success that matters is how much… Read more »
“You acknowledge a shortage of product and then give an assessment as to how daily sales have fallen off from launch.” Uh, that’s the definition of failure: there is no product to sell. You’re the simpleton trying to say that selling out of limited product is a success because the collection of tax dollars is the only measure of success. But that’s illogical, because running out of product to sell means less tax dollars, which means a failure. As for the $3.7B in tax revenue over the next 5 years, I’m not sure where you got that figure. I think… Read more »
So Steve Jobs was a simpleton when the Iphone ran out? That’s some messed up logic. The CEO’s of the cannabis companies are extremely happy with the rollout. I guess they are simpletons as well. Sure they want more product but it takes time to grow. What should they have done? What would you have done differently? Maybe they will implement all of your superior ideas.
The problems of the failure are easily identifiable. It’s no secret. The legislature was too busy celebrating infanticide and while in a celebratory mood, it passed an awful legalization bill that quite literally disregarded everything we should have learned from previous rollouts other states. The bill was passed too quickly and didn’t give enough time to license cultivators, give them time to grow product, and didn’t approve enough dispensaries to sell. It also gave local communities the ability to ‘opt out’ which created legal marijuana deserts throughout the state where unlicensed marijuana is flourishing, not collecting tax, while the state’s… Read more »
So your solution would have been wait to roll it out. That’s fine. Many people probably agree with you but in the meantime the state is broke and decided to start collecting revenue as quickly as possible. Under your plan the state would have collected nothing. Getting this approved in the state was like threading a needle. The fact that they threw in equity provision and local opt out is a testament to that fact. This enabled them to be the first and only state to get marijuana approved through the legislature. The reason for the iphone analogy – I’m… Read more »
“Revenue is the first and most important measurement of a successful launch.” That’s nonsense. There’s lots of revenue in the cannabis industry, it’s just unlicensed and hence, untaxed. It’s more important to have a steady stream of reliable and taxable revenue than just ‘revenue’ for revenues sake. The taxes on $40M of cannabis is only like what, $20M or so, divided between multiple entities (including the VAT like tax on the cultivators). January’s $20M intake will likely be the highest tax revenue of the year, and it’ll be instantly vaporized in a few seconds of Illinois’s spending, it’s literally little… Read more »
Illinois per capita sales topped every state but one. My calculation ranks Illinois at number 2 out of 11. I’m not making any excuses. Why would I with such a fantastic launch?
Stop smoking your own product, man!