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Long-sought legislation that would accelerate the sealing of many criminal convictions from employers now sits on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk, positioning Illinois to join roughly a dozen states that have adopted similar policies to help people pursue better jobs.

Advocates estimate as many as 1.7 million Illinoisans with past court cases stand to benefit from the so-called Clean Slate legislation, which the Democratic-led legislature pushed through the General Assembly in the final days of last month’s fall session.

The bill builds on Illinois’ existing system , which permits many records to be sealed but can take months or even a few years to do so. The legislation shifting to a more automatic process would represent another significant chang

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