In 2020, many Democratic governors, including Illinois governor JB Pritzker, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic aggressively with lockdowns and mandates. Now, two years later, there is a shift as blue state politicians begin lifting mandates against CDC guidance.

“I think those who made decisions early on in the pandemic were doing so with science in front of them, and they are making decisions now based on the science,” said Aviva Bowen, Democratic strategist with The Strategy Group.

The state’s mask mandate is ending at the end of this month, but is it too early to take them off?

While most health leaders agree the goal is to get rid of masks once and for all, they disagree on how and when to do it.

With Governor JB Pritzker lifting the mask mandate Feb. 28, local businesses say taking off the masks puts them on the path towards normalcy.

“We are now seeing the fastest rate of decline in our COVID-19 hospitalization metrics since the pandemic began,” Pritzker said in a press conference Wednesday.

The Pritzker administration is still not revealing how much fraud occurred during the pandemic in the state’s unemployment program. That’s not the only thing lawmakers have been seeking over the past year.

When government-imposed restrictions led to massive spikes in new unemployment claims across the country, the amount of fraudulent claims also skyrocketed.

An Illinois House Democrat hopes to help more people get previous cannabis charges expunged from their record. Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) says some still face a barrier because of the drug test required before expungement.

Recreational marijuana has been legal in Illinois since January 1, 2020. One of the major components of the legalization law was the automatic expungement of nearly 500,000 marijuana arrest records. Although, some people are still waiting to have a clean slate today.

One day after lifting his indoor mask mandate for most people on Feb. 28th, with the exception of K-12 school kids, Governor Pritzker told reporters in Rock Island that mandate will be lifted in the future.

“My expectation is that it will take just a few weeks for us to get to where we need to feel like we can remove masks in schools,” Pritzker said.

With continued COVID-19 mandates dictated by Gov. J.B. Pritzker nearing a full two years, some want to curb his authority.

Pritzker on Wednesday announced his statewide indoor mask mandate is set to expire at the end of the month with the exception of schools and congregate settings if COVID-19 metrics continue downward.

The Illinois attorney general’s office and the city of Chicago yesterday urged the Illinois Commerce Commission to more than double the refund Commonwealth Edison should make to ratepayers over its admitted bribery scheme.

In testimony filed with the ICC, the state’s chief consumer advocate, the city and the Citizens Utility Board called for a refund exceeding $49 million. ComEd in December offered to pay $21 million.