Today marked the deadline for many bills in the General Assembly to either be passed out of their respective chambers or die a quiet death.  Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) described the week as "stressful," telling us from the House floor yesterday that, in addition to the hundreds of bills being pushed by their sponsors, "I'm still trying to move six of my own."

As of 7 p.m. this evening, here's how some of the measures we've been following fared:

Ethics Reform
Attorney General Lisa Madigan's push to add teeth to open records laws (HB 1370) and to expand the important public access counselor's powers and make the job permanent (HB 4165) have had a tough slog. Both measures, introduced by Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, failed to advance today. By contrast, Sen. Susan Garrett's SB 54 is on its way to the House, which could mean that thousands of Inspector General reports that have been locked away for years could end up seeing the light of day.

Health Care
People turned down for medical insurance because of pre-existing conditions have a reason for optimism now that Rep. Greg Harris' HB 3923 passed out of the House and is headed for the Senate. The measure would rein in the unscrupulous insurance industry, which Mike McRaith, acting secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, says lawmakers have treated with kid gloves for years. Meanwhile, Rep. Currie's Reproductive Health and Access Act stalled in the House.

Social Services
Two pieces of legislation being closely watched by anti-poverty advocates are Rep. Will Burns' HB 2383 to ease the criteria for TANF enrollment and Rep. Sara Feigenholtz' HB 745, which would ease the public aid application process. Both measures passed the House and are up for Senate consideration.  

Education
After stripping out a provision that would have called a one-year moratorium on public school closings in Chicago, Rep. Cynthia Soto's measure (HB 363) to improve the closings process passed today.

Environment
For the second consecutive year, the Clean Cars Act sits idle. On a brighter note, Springfield blogger Will Reynolds notes that a bill to mandate the greening of new homes (HB 3983) was approved by the House and is moving on to the Senate. Environment Illinois' director Max Muller recently told us that this measure topped his priority list this year. 

TIFs
Rep. John Fritchey's bill (HB 4326) to recapture taxpayer dollars if a tax increment financing (TIF) recipient reneges on its redevelopment agreement passed the House and is being considered by the Senate. 

Consumer Protection
After Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias rolled out the Credit Card Marketing Act earlier this year, Rep. Kevin Joyce introduced it and HB 2352 passed the House on Wednesday. The bill would curb the marketing of credit cards at uncompetitive rates to students on college campuses statewide. Rep. Burns' bill (HB 3863) to provide protections to unsuspecting renters tangled in foreclosures passed as well. Finally, the House defeated Rep. LaShawn Ford's proposal (HB 618) to distribute lottery revenues to individual school districts “based on the district’s percentage of lottery sales.”  

Same Sex Marriage
Rep. Harris' same sex marriage (HB 179) and civil unions (HB 2234) bills remain stuck in the House.

The Anti-Immigrant Agenda
Encouragingly, the raft of anti-immigrant legislation that we highlighted last month all failed to advance.

Police Accountability
Encouragingly, the Senate approved Kwame Raoul's proposal (SB 48) to call a police torture commission aimed at getting to the bottom of the allegations against former Police Commander Jon Burge. Rep. Howard's bill to clarify the expungement process (HB 3961) also passed out of the House.  Meanwhile, Rep. Julie Hamos' measure to reform Tamms correction center (HB 2633) failed to advance.

Of course, just because certain bills have made it through one chamber doesn't mean they're on their way to becoming law. And just because certain bills didn't receive a vote today, doesn't necessarily mean they're done for good (a few measures may receive extensions from the legislative leaders).  If we receive any new information about any of these bills, we'll update this post over the weekend.