Indiana lawmakers advance Illinois secession bill. Why some Democrats voted for it

Yahoo

17-02-2025

An Indiana House committee nearly unanimously approved House Speaker Todd Huston's only bill this session, starting a conversation about annexing some Illinois counties should they secede from their home state.
Though Huston frequently rattles off economic statistics and says such a move cannot be "based upon politics," an argument at the heart of the discussion strikes an inherently political tone and clearly held appeal across party lines on Monday: representation in state government.
"The colonial battlecry, 'no taxation without representation,' is our reality," said Gina Merritt, chair of the nonprofit New Illinois, a group whose primary goal is forming an entirely new state. "We thank the leadership of Indiana for recognizing our pain."
Go Deeper: Gain a U.S. House seat, lose money? The potential impact of Illinois counties' secession
Only one Democrat on the committee voted against House Bill 1008, and two joined Republicans in voting for it. The bill would merely create a bipartisan commission to discuss the merit and logistics of adjusting Indiana's state boundary with Illinois.
Illinois Republican Rep. Brad Halbrook has introduced House Bill 1500, the companion bill allowing Illinois to participate in the commission.
Redrawing this state boundary would require the approval of both state legislatures and the U.S. Congress, and this hasn't been done since the Civil War era.
Seven Illinois counties voted by referenda to support secession this past November, bringing the total to 33 counties who have done so. Such movements ― mostly among rural counties in states with large blue cities, dissatisfied with their liberal-leaning state governments ― pervade the increasingly polarized country.
State governments aren't like the U.S. Congress, where one chamber is made up of representatives that are proportionate to a state's population and another chamber grants equal representation to each state. Because of the 1964 Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims, state legislative districts must comprise roughly equal population. At the time, the goal of this decision was to correct for urban areas being vastly underrepresented in state governments.
But proponents of secession argue that particularly in states with massive urban centers like Chicago, that balance has been thrown in the opposite direction.
"If that balance could be restored in representation, I don't know if we'd be here today," Daniel Juffernbruch, the chair of a New Illinois committee working on writing a new constitution, told IndyStar.
If the group can't successfully make a new state, Merritt told IndyStar, joining Indiana would be the "next best option."
Democrat Ragen Hatcher, a representative from Lake County, the home of Gary and one of Indiana's most urban counties, found herself relating to the feeling among the secession movement's supporters, that their state government does not represent their interests. Indiana's state government is entirely controlled by Republicans, and its major population centers are not nearly populous enough to overtake the representation rural communities have in the state legislature.
She asked Huston if part of the discussion could include Lake County seceding from Indiana and joining Illinois. Huston told her, "Anything could be considered."
"I hope that possibly this is a two-way street," Hatcher said in explaining her yes-vote. "Maybe this is a start for everyone."
Rep. Chris Campbell, D-West Lafayette, said she sympathizes with the feeling of not being heard at the state level, but ultimately feels this sends the wrong message, that it's better to manipulate maps than actually solve problems together.
"I think that this creates a further division," she said. "It's creating the great divide of the red and blue states."
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Indianapolis Democratic Rep. John Bartlett said he was struggling with the bill. He voted yes but said he wasn't sure how he would vote on the floor.
Juffernbruch told IndyStar he rejects the argument that these movements are only sowing further division.
"Unless the government is responsive to the people, you're going have division," he said. "It's a government that's ignoring the people that's causing the division. The fault doesn't lie with the people that want a new state."
The bill now moves to the House floor for consideration by the full chamber.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [e-mail] or follow her on X @kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana lawmakers advance Illinois secession bill