Indiana lawmakers advance bill to redraw border with Illinois

Indiana's governor is facing a big decision whether to redraw the state line and absorb Illinois communities that want out of their own counties

Indiana lawmakers both in the House and Senate pushed a bill one step closer to the finish line that would create a joint commission

with six members appointed by Indiana's governor and five from Illinois to discuss whether shifting the state border makes sense

Senator Scott Baldwin sponsored the bill. He says the Indiana-Illinois Adjustment Commission would look at bringing 33 rural Illinois counties into Indiana's borders

It's what voters want after passing refreendums to break away from Illinois and distance themselves from Chicago and Cook County

And many residents in Illinois feel like they're donor communities for Chicago and they feel like their Hoosier values are more in line with their values

But for Indiana's plan to move forward, both the Illinois legislature and Congress would have to sign off on the annexation

A similar bill was introduced in the Illinois House, but it failed to gain enough support from lawmakers

Meanwhile, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has expressed no interest in the legislation

Well, it's a stunt. It's not going to happen. But I'll just say that Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn't protect workers

a state that does not provide health care for people when they're in need

And so I don't think that it's very attractive for anybody in Illinois where wages are higher

where the standard of living is higher and where we do provide health care for people who are in need In response to some of the doubt Baldwin stands up for Indiana and calls it a political signal

that Indiana is willing to take on those Illinois counties. Indiana offers lower taxes

and business-free policies. We have better fiscal management. We've got improved infrastructure

services as compared to Illinois. Some Indiana Democrats are raising questions, asking how adding new communities could impact existing districts and when the final study

would be completed. This is a waste of time. The amount of time it's going to take to get this done

there will be none of us here. It's going to take a constitutional amendment

We're going to have to change the dynamics of our congressional and Senate seats and House of representative seats

And we're going to have to get the governor of Illinois to sign off on it

Other states have tried something similar, like the Greater Idaho Movement, where rural Oregon counties wanted to join Idaho

And in Maryland, a few counties looked into joining West Virginia. But in both cases, the idea never got full approval from both states and Congress

The bill only creates a commission, and if Illinois doesn't join it, it'll be up to Indiana members alone to figure out what it would take to make the deal work

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. For unbiased, fact-based coverage, download the Straight Arrow News mobile app today