Metro East Sun

Illinois Sen. Jason Plummer recently criticized the state's Democratic lawmakers for what he feels are the state's failures to its residents.

Plummer took to Facebook to point out the ways Illinois differs from its neighbors, using a U.S. gas price heat map for reference.

"Can anyone identify that outlier right in the middle of the country?" Plummer said on Facebook. "What makes us different from our friends and neighbors in Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kentucky? Unnecessarily high gas prices, out of control crime, corruption, high taxes, busted budgets, and free feminine hygiene products in boys' school bathrooms, to name a few things, all brought to you by out of touch Democrat majorities. Remember this in November."

The national average for a gallon of gas as of May 31 was $4.62, AAA reported. In Illinois, the average price of a gallon of gas was $5.00.

As for Plummer's claim on "out of control crime," Illinois' violent crime rate was at 4.3 incidents per 1,000, compared with 4.0 per 1,000 in the U.S., SafeWise said in its State of Safety Report. Property crimes, however, were below the rest of the country, at 15.6 incidents per 1,000 people. The national rate for property crimes was 19.6 incidents per 1,000 people.

The Illinois House passed a bill last year requiring that feminine hygiene products be available in public restrooms for males and females in fourth through 12th grade, NPR Illinois reported.