Twenty school districts in the Metro East rely on the state for 30 percent or more of their total revenue.

In trying to force a Chicago bailout, proponents of Senate Bill 1 are throwing hundreds of thousands of downstate and suburban students into limbo.

HB 643 will prevent the $50,000 daily cost of special sessions from rising even higher in fiscal year 2018.

House Joint Resolution 69 would create a special task force to investigate and report on state and local property tax assessment, appeals processes and other property tax policies.

The special session will deal with Senate Bill 1, an education finance bill that contains an annual $215 million pension bailout for Chicago Public Schools.

Though the Illinois House of Representatives appears close to overriding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a tax hike budget plan, and thereby ending Illinois’ more than two years without a full-year budget, Moody’s Investors Service has said it might still downgrade the state’s credit, largely due to Illinois’ unsustainable debt.

The Illinois General Assembly passed a budget, including the largest permanent tax hike in state history, without structural spending reforms. Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the plan on Independence Day, and the Senate voted to override the governor’s veto. The package now heads to the House for an override vote.

The Illinois Senate on July 4 approved the House’s budget plan, which Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he will veto.