* Gov. Pritzker responds to reports that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore was uninvited from a bipartisan White House dinner…

* Crain’s | Even though marijuana is legal in Illinois, clearing old criminal records still a challenge: Statewide data, however, suggest that most people don’t follow through. According to the Paper Prisons Initiative, a legal research group, an estimated 2.2 million people in Illinois were eligible for expungement or record sealing in 2021, but only about 10% had filed petitions. Legal experts refer to this disparity as the “second chance gap,” and they attribute it to a combination of factors, including a lack of awareness, fear of the legal system, filing costs and long wait times. However, they say this gap may narrow as Illinois prepares to implement the Clean Slate Act, signed into law earlier this year, which will automatically seal nonviolent criminal records for over 1.7 million adults beginning in 2029.

* Crain’s | House subpoenas Blue Cross Illinois parent in ACA fraud probe: The House Judiciary Committee has issued subpoenas to eight health insurance exchange carriers, including the parent of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, as part of an ongoing fraud investigation. The panel is demanding information and documentation from Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp. as well as Aetna parent company CVS Health, Elevance Health, Centene, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan parent company Kaiser Permanente, Florida Blue parent company Guidewell, Ascendiun subsidiary Blue Shield of California and Oscar Health. The committee announced the subpoenas in a news release Tuesday.

* Governor JB Pritzker | The State of Illinois is Being Loud for America: Illinois and Minnesota are standing up to the bullying. Other patriotic Americans are too. But it’s going to take more of us to emerge victorious. Next week I will deliver my 2026 State of the State address. It’s still coming together, but I know one thing I’ll want to make known: Illinoisans love this nation too much to let MAGA tear down our constitutional republic. We’re standing up, speaking out, and showing up, and I could not be more proud.

* WGLT | Illinois lawmakers not sure there’s more higher ed money in a ‘tricky’ budget: State Rep. Sharon Chung, a Democrat from Bloomington, said she does not think there will be an increase in higher education funding because of what she called a “tricky” budget. “When it comes to funding for fiscal year 2027, I’m not quite sure what that’s going to look like. We have so many needs throughout the state, especially with a lot of the federal funding cuts,” Chung said, adding she would support a funding increase for higher ed if it can be supported by this year’s budget. Chung said she supports evidence-based funding for higher education, but it would require more funding.

* Capitol News Illinois | ‘More listening and less talking’: Darren Bailey insists results will be different in 2nd run for governor: Should Bailey find his way to the governor’s office, he will almost certainly have to work with a supermajority of Democrats in the legislature. He argued he can find success in that environment because of relationships he had during his four years in the General Assembly. “My door’s always open … that table in the governor’s office will be available,” Bailey said. “There will be seats.”

* Tribune | Parents push back on school closures after archdiocese says time to mobilize has passed: ‘We were blindsided’: But according to the archdiocese, the window to save their schools has passed — and its decision to close the schools is final. That leaves parents at St. Jerome and another school, Sts. Bruno and Richard School in Archer Heights, insisting they were blindsided. At St. Jerome, some parents say they weren’t told the school closure was on the horizon, before the archdiocese’s Jan. 22 announcement. “Parents were never given the opportunity to get these efforts put into play,” Ferro told the Tribune. “Now, you’re just here scrambling — trying to figure out what you’re going to do with your kids. They basically tied your hands.”

* ABC Chicago | Election officials show off new Chicago voting supersite ahead of Illinois Primary: “As you can see, we still got the new car smell around here,” Max Bever, director of public information at the Chicago Board of Elections, said. “It’s an absolute new facility built out just for this purpose.”Slightly larger than the original Supersite at Clark & Lake, the brand new facility holds 80 voting machines, a few more than its predecessor. The reason for the move, Max Bever with the Chicago Board of Elections says their lease simply ended with the Secretary of State and they were looking more space for the public.

* Crain’s | Head of Morgan Lewis’ Chicago office decamps for King & Spalding: King & Spalding, which has 57 lawyers working out of its Chicago office, said Tinos Diamantatos will be a partner in its business litigation practice group. […] “The group here, they are great trial lawyers,” Diamantatos said. “It was just incredibly enticing to come to a firm (where) one of the cornerstones of what they do is trying cases.”

* Block Club | Grant Park 20-Year Plan Calls For Public Bathrooms, Better Lake Access And More: Some of the major projects outlined in the plan include new pedestrian walkways over DuSable Lake Shore Drive, expanded landscaping and seating, permanent public restrooms, lakefront “park rooms” designed for recreation and art and changes to surrounding streets to better prioritize people who are walking and biking.

* Tribune | Catching, starting pitching and center field are 3 spots to watch as Chicago White Sox spring training begins: “We feel really good about the direction we’re headed,” Getz said Monday at Camelback Ranch. “And to get everyone in this building right now, working towards what we want to accomplish here in the future, is really valuable, and rewarding, and exciting for the next steps for the Chicago White Sox.” Getz said manager Will Venable is focused on starting from zero as the buildup begins toward opening day.

* Sun-Times | The Art Institute of Chicago just hung its first Norman Rockwell, and it depicts the Cubs: The historic piece is a gift to the Downtown museum from former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana. According to an online listing from the auction house Christie’s, “The Dugout” last sold in 2009 for $662,500. The company estimates its present-day value between $700,000 and $1 million. Other Rockwell works have fetched as much as $46 million.

* WIRED | ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next: And in Oakbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, ICE is moving into the Oakbrook Gateway, an office building located near both a Bright Horizons daycare center and a hospice center.

* Daily Southtown | Harvey still lacks acting mayor; aldermen approve road improvements, FOIA settlement: The selection of an acting clerk and a resolution to update the city’s bank signatories have been deferred until an acting mayor is selected. “I understand that there’s no timeline,” resident Amanda Askew told aldermen Monday. “But I do believe that the sense of urgency needs to happen, like, yesterday, so those people can lock in and do their job properly.” Drewenski said the mayoral vacancy will be addressed at the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23. Since not everyone who wanted to attend the last meeting was able to fit in the council chambers, Drewenski said, the aldermen are seeking a venue that will accommodate more people.

* The Daily Northwestern | Late Northwestern professor maintained long-term relationship with Epstein, released government files show: Late McCormick Prof. Roger Schank maintained close contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and was offered access to “a girl,” according to newly released files from the Department of Justice. Throughout his life, Schank issued public statements in support of Epstein, who was convicted by a Florida state court of soliciting a minor for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in 2008. Epstein was later arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 before dying in jail. Schank’s name appears over 1,500 times in the newest batch of files related to Epstein, released by the DOJ on Jan. 30.

* Daily Herald | District 15 picks new superintendent: Palatine Township Elementary District 15 school board members chose a candidate with extensive superintendent experience to succeed Superintendent Laurie Heinz. They voted Monday to name Flossmoor School District 161 Superintendent Dana Smith to the post. He will start work July 1 under a three-year contract at an annual salary of $283,000.

* Naperville Sun | District 5 Dem candidates for the DuPage board discuss county’s biggest issue: Incumbent Sadia Covert is facing challengers Ian Holzhauer, a Naperville City Council member, and Marylee Leu, president of the DuPage County Regional Office of Education Board of School Trustees. The winner will face Republican nominee Chris Jacks, a Naperville Park Board member, in the Nov. 3 general election to fill a single four-year board seat. Democratic incumbent board member Dawn DeSart and Republican challenger Daniel Lomeli will face off in the general election for a two-year District 5 seat.

* WJBD | Centralia approves new collective bargaining agreements with police unions: There are other changes in the union agreements, such as safety time, an additional day off awarded to officers who avoid on-the-job accidents for a full calendar year. Holiday pay rate was changed to only apply to the “family five-pack” of New Years’ Day, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, and Memorial Day. The new agreements also offer a $1500 annual payout to officers who decline health insurance coverage from the city for which they are eligible. Per the agreements, starting base pay for a patrolman is now $63,508 per year. Starting pay for a dispatcher is $50,589.

* WGLT | Illinois awards more grant money toward McLean County’s Route 66 celebrations and landmarks: The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity gave Bloomington-Normal’s tourism organization $513,378 to enhance attractions and visitor experiences in McLean County. VisitBN cited its regional partners in helping shape a proposal for the award. Those include the Town of Normal, McLean County Museum of History, Friends of the Constitution Trail, City of Chenoa, City of Lexington, Village of Towanda and CORE McLean. “This grant is a powerful example of what can happen when a community works together toward a shared vision,” said Beth Whisman, the chair of the VisitBN board of directors.

* WAND | Bailey Zimmerman coming to perform at Illinois State Fair: Illinois native Bailey Zimmerman is coming to perform at the Illinois State Fair this summer. Zimmerman is a country singer best known for his singles like, “Fall in Love” and “Rock in a Hard Place.” He is a multi-platinum, chart-topping artist.

* WaPo | Republicans are pushing to drastically change the way you cast ballots: As President Donald Trump calls for sweeping changes to election law — including saying that Republicans should “take over the voting” — Republicans in Congress are planning to vote this week on the SAVE America Act, which would make massive changes to how Americans vote ahead of November’s midterms. They want to require all Americans to prove they are citizens when registering to vote, and to show an ID when voting in person or by mail, as well as make mail voting more difficult.

* NYT | Georgia Ballot Inquiry Originated From Election Denier in Trump White House: “The FBI criminal investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity,” the affidavit said. Mr. Olsen played a central role in Mr. Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, including speaking to the president multiple times on Jan. 6, 2021. He has continued to push false claims about elections, and was recently appointed to a key role in the Trump administration. Many of the claims in the affidavit refer to long-held — and consistently debunked — conspiracy theories about elections in Georgia, including arguments about fraudulent and duplicate absent ballots, election machine tabulator tapes and missing ballot images.

* Politico | How ICE defies judges’ orders to release detainees, step by step: Sometimes, ICE has raced detainees across state lines in ways judges say are designed to thwart legal proceedings. Other times, they’re detaining people for days or weeks after judges have ordered them released. ICE officials have at times ignored other arms of the federal government trying to ensure compliance with court orders. And sometimes the administration has given judges bad or incomplete information. […] “There has been an undeniable move by the Government in the past month to defy court orders or at least to stretch the legal process to the breaking point in an attempt to deny noncitizens their due process rights,” U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, a Clinton appointee from Minnesota, said in a recent order.

* The Guardian | ‘They always gave us the heaviest work’: how Maga billionaires relied on Mexican labor: Now, for the first time, a former Uline employee named Christian Valenzuela, 42, has come forward to share his experience in the shuttle program, including stints in Allentown, where Vance spoke in December. Uline travel itineraries, which Valenzuela shared with the Guardian, show he made at least five trips to the US beginning in early 2022, and worked in the company’s facilities in Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin. “They told us we had to go to the United States because there were not many people who were working at that time. It was around the time of the pandemic,” he said in an interview. Uline did pay the Mexican workers a bonus and gas money, and paid for accommodations, but they were paid their usual Mexican wage, Valenzuela said. The Guardian has previously reported this was a fraction of what their American counterparts earned.