Defenders of Senate Bill 1 are putting a bailout of Chicago Public Schools ahead of their own local school districts.

Residents of Chicago’s collar counties pay the highest property taxes in the state – and some of the highest in the country.

Proposed legislation to commemorate former President Barack Obama’s birthday as a state holiday in Illinois would have cost taxpayers nearly $20 million in state personnel expenses and lost productivity.

Despite Illinois’ billions in deficit spending and skyrocketing debt, the Illinois House of Representatives passed House Bill 278, which would transfer an additional $300 million per year of state income tax funds to local governments, continuing to prop up local overspending that fuels high property taxes.