Handoff between MacBook Pro 2021 and iPad Air 4 NOT WORKING after update to iPadOS 17.2

This used to work perfectly for me every single day UNTIL yesterday when i updated my iPad to OS 17.2.

I restarted both devices, turned off/on bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The button on my Mac that says "Link keyboard and mouse" to iPad is turned on and Handoff in Settings is toggled on as well. It's like the update just broke the feature.

VERY frustrating cuz i use this for work. I can still mirror/extend my Mac's screen to the iPad though, that works. But I need the seamless integration and movement back and forth with one mouse between MacOS and iPadOS.

Note: it also still doesn't work after I updated the Mac to Sonoma 14.2

Has anyone else experienced this since updating??