The agency that oversees Connecticut’s cannabis social equity funding and license approval is a dysfunctional workplace with no strategic plan, a state audit shows.
After a nearly four-month investigation, the office of state Comptroller Sean Scanlon said the Connecticut Social Equity Council (SEC) didn’t provide proper guidance to social equity license applicants and sometimes gave conflicting advice, according to NewsTimes.com.
“We saw questionable practices and procedures that troubled us as the fiscal watchdog office of Connecticut,” Scanlon said during a news conference.
In June, Gov. Ned Lamont stopped the distribution of about $33.4 million in funding and ordered an audit “in response to complaints from members of the state’s legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and other stakeholders.”
Although Scanlon said the investigation did not identify criminal behavior, it found the SEC sometimes didn’t provide documentation that should accompany grant applications, NewsTimes.com reported.
“What we did find, however, was questionable business practices and procedures that were troubling, subjective and ambiguous,” Scanlon said during the news conference.
Scanlon’s report noted that the Social Equity Council entered an unnecessary contract for more than $1 million with a consulting firm that was hired to perform duties that were the council’s responsibility.
The SEC also awarded more than $90,000 for “community outreach” without bidding soliciting bids from vendors.
The comptroller’s report included legislative and operational recommendations for the SEC moving forward.
