Indiana is a first step towards a fairly unlikely effort to amend its border and acquire parts of Illinois.
The Legislature in the State of Hoosier approved a bill last week to establish the Indiana-Olinois limit adjustment commission that would break if altering the border between the two states.
Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Republican, plans to sign the measure in the law, his office said. The governor will face a deadline of September 1 to schedule the first meeting of the Commission.
Blue State conservative portion that seeks to separate and join Red State neighbor
Indiana is a first step towards a fairly unlikely effort to amend its border and acquire parts of Illinois. (AP)
This comes when the residents of some counties in Illinois seek to separate from the densely populated and deep Chicago area.
But despite the support of the Indiana government and the people in the Illinois counties that the States would change, the Illinois government and the United States Congress would need to approve the plan to change state borders.
The senior elected officials of Illinois do not support the idea.
An accompanying bill in Illinois that authorizes the State to participate in the commission to change the border has not received a hearing in a committee of the Illinois representatives Chamber. Illinois Democratic governor JB Pritzker also described Indiana’s measure earlier this year as “a trick.”
The governor of Indiana, Mike Braun, republican, plans to sign the measure in law. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)
Changes of minor limits among states are not a new idea, since it has at least 50 in the history of the United States, according to the National Center for Interstate Compacts in the State Governments Council. However, no important changes have been implemented since the Civil War era, when some counties in Virginia separated to create Western Virginia.
The current effort to change the border between Illinois and Indiana is partly fed by political divisions. The Chicago area is controlled by Democrats and, given the large population of the area, the party also controls the state government, while Republicans represent many other parts of Illinois. The Indiana government, meanwhile, is controlled by Republicans.
The New York legislator asks the island states to separate
Illinois Democratic governor JB Pritzker described Indiana’s measure as “a trick.” (Erin Holey/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service through Getty Images)
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In the last five years, voters in 33 County of Illinois have approved voting measures that ask if they want to consider the separation of cook county, a county that includes Chicago, to form a new state. But the initiative does not necessarily mean that they join Indiana, if they are given the opportunity.
A similar effort is the ONS in eastern Oregon, since some counties in that state controlled by the Democrats want to separate and join Idaho led by the Republicans. Idaho’s house approved a measure two years ago allowing Oregon to enter discussions, but similar measures have not advanced, since they remain trapped in commitment in the Oregon Legislature.
Associated Press contributed to this report.