Bill to explore Illinois-Indiana border passes the House

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Indiana representatives on Thursday took another step to poke around the possibility of adding counties from Illinois to the Hoosier State.

The House voted largely along party lines, 69-25, to adopt a bill which would set up a commission of five Indiana and five Illinois designees who would be authorized to talk about Illinois ceding counties to Indiana. It’s still highly unlikely Indiana actually takes control of any additional territory, as that process requires approval from both the Illinois state legislature and U.S. Congress.

House Bill 1008, authored by Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, has been panned by Illinois leaders as a stunt. On the House floor before the vote, Huston once again emphasized Indiana’s tax rates and rattled off economic statistics and framed his measure as a way to highlight the state’s progress.

“We’ve really created a fantastic place and we should take every advantage to make sure people are aware of that. So when we had this opportunity to raise our hand and say, ‘Hey if you’re disenfranchised, we’d love to welcome you, or have a conversation about welcoming you,’” Huston said.

Though Huston highlighted what he sees as economic advantages, representatives from some of the Illinois counties who have expressed interest in leaving their state emphasize the politics at the root of their efforts. The overwhelmingly rural, Republican counties don’t feel they’re getting a fair shake by the Democratic majority in the Illinois statehouse.

Indiana Democrats say they know the feeling.

Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, voted against the bill but said she supports any recognition of communities who are ignored by state governments. She just wishes Indiana Republicans applied their same logic to urban communities in northwest Indiana.

“As a representative from Gary and a Democrat in Indiana, I deeply understand what it feels like to be underrepresented in the Statehouse and sometimes in my own caucus. Time and time again legislation directly affecting Gary has been introduced and advanced by lawmakers from other areas.”

Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend, tried to add language to HB 1008 which would allow Indiana counties to vote on whether they wanted to explore secession. That amendment was voted down along party lines.

The bill now moves to the Senate. If the Senate passes it as written, Gov. Mike Braun would appoint five members to the commission. That commission would be authorized to “discuss and recommend whether it is advisable to adjust the boundaries between the two states.”

In total, 33 rural counties, most in southern Illinois, have voted in non-binding ballot measures in the past few years to secede from their state. Representatives from Illinois secessionist groups who spoke in Indiana’s legislature said they would ideally like to form their own state, though they would consider joining Indiana as preferable to their current situation.

According to data collected by Ball State economist Michael Hicks, the 33 Illinois counties that want to secede have an average per capita income of $54,381, which would rank as the second-lowest in the U.S. if it were its own state. Hicks also calculated that if grouped as its own state, the counties would pay the fourth-lowest amount nationally in state taxes as it currently sits.