New neighbors? Bill to explore annexing Illinois counties moves out of House committee
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A House committee on Monday approved a bill that could start an unusual and unlikely process through which several dozen Illinois counties could join the state of Indiana.
In an 11-1 vote, the House’s Government and Regulatory Reform Committee approved HB 1008, which would create a commission to discuss how Indiana could “embrace” counties in Illinois who want to secede from their state.
The bill would establish the Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission that could meet to “discuss and recommend whether it is advisable to adjust the boundaries between the two states.”
If passed as written, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun would appoint five members to the commission, with Illinois appointing the other five. The bill’s author Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, said the fact that 33 rural counties in southern Illinois have voted in non-binding ballot measures to secede from their state led him to write the proposal.
“We’re not surprised Illinois residents are moving to Indiana. It’s a great state to live, work and raise your kids. If those 33 counties from Illinois want to consider joining our state as a path forward, we welcome that too,” Huston told committee members Monday. “House Bill 1008 starts that conversation.”
To actually have counties in Illinois break off and join Indiana still requires a longshot process that has not occurred in modern U.S. history. First, the Illinois Legislature would have to pass a similar bill to begin substantive discussions. That bill has not yet received a hearing in the Illinois House.
Then, any official boundary shifts would require approval from both the Illinois General Assembly and U.S. Congress.
The bill has ruffled feathers from the start, with Huston having to answer questions about whether his initiative was serious. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has called the measure “a stunt” and Indiana “a low-wage state that doesn’t protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people when they’re in need.”
Those who testified before the committee, however, were all in favor of the measure. That included G.H. Merritt, a leader with the group New Illinois. She said many Illinois residents feel their voices aren’t heard in the state’s Legislature and referenced the rallying call of colonists preceding the American Revolution: “taxation without representation.”
“Our biggest grievance is we are not represented,” Merritt said. “We don’t have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Our governor accuses us of wanting to kick Chicago out of Illinois. Not so. We want to kick ourselves out of Illinois.”
Merritt and others from Illinois who spoke Monday said they prefer to form their own state as opposed to being part of Indiana, but they thanked Hoosier lawmakers for hearing their concerns.
Lawmakers referenced statistics from the conservative think tank Illinois Policy Institute that concluded more than 83,000 people moved out of Illinois to another state from 2022 to 2023.
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.
The Government and Regulatory Reform Committee approved the bill with only one no vote—from Democratic Rep. Chris Campbell of West Lafayette.
Two other Democrats, including Rep. Ragen Hatcher of Gary, voted for the bill. Hatcher said she feels that Lake County is often ignored by Republicans in the Indiana Statehouse, so she supports the spirit of the bill that listens to communities that feel they’re getting short-changed.
“I would appreciate some understanding of why urban areas, at least my urban area, in this state feel the same way as those people currently living in Illinois,” she said.