Indiana-Illinois border bill — criticized as ‘waste of time' — passes Indiana Senate

Chicago Tribune

16-04-2025

The Indiana-Illinois border bill was passed out of the Senate Tuesday with Democratic senators calling the bill a 'political stunt' and 'a waste of time.'
House Bill 1008, authored by Speaker Todd Huston, would establish an Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission to research the possibility of adjusting the boundaries between the two states. If the bill becomes law, Gov. Mike Braun would have to set the commission's first meeting no later than Sept. 1.
The bill was amended in the Senate Public Policy Committee earlier this month to allow one more Indiana representative to the commission and, with that, give the commission a quorum to meet.
Under the amended bill, Indiana would have six commissioners and Illinois would have five. The amended bill also states that a quorum of the commission consists of at least six members.
The bill passed the Senate 36-13, with three Republicans joining all 10 Democrats to vote against the bill. In a statement Wednesday, Huston said House Bill 1008 starts the conversation of shifting the border between Indiana and Illinois.
'Indiana is a great place to live, work, raise your kids and enjoy a high quality of life. We welcome our neighbors in Illinois seeking lower taxes and more opportunity to join us in the Hoosier state,' Huston, R-Fishers, said.
Sen. Scott Baldwin, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said the bill was amended in committee 'in the highly unlikely event that Illinois doesn't participate in this measure' the commission can meet and discuss the border shift.
'We would have six members who would then be able to meet and report back to our governor as to the status, but they would also be able to function as it relates to communicating with the members of those 33 counties,' Baldwin said.
Baldwin, R-Noblesville, said nearly three dozen Illinois counties have voted in recent years to leave the state.
In November, seven Illinois counties — Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jersey, Madison and Perry counties — voted to secede from the state. Iroquois County is along the Indiana border, the remaining six counties are closer to Missouri.
'I've heard people say, 'this will never happen,' and maybe so,' Baldwin said. 'This is a matter of readiness not reciprocity. It's a political signal that we're willing to take on those 33 counties if they choose to do so.'
To change a state line, the U.S. Constitution dictates that the Indiana legislature, the Illinois legislature and then Congress would have to approve the measure, said professor Paul Helmke ot the Indiana University Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
The Illinois counties voted to 'succeed from the state of Illinois and join the state of Indiana,' Baldwin said, but Illinoisans who are leading the effort testified in a House committee that the breakaway Illinois counties would like to form their own state.
G.H. Merritt, chairwoman of New Illinois, clarified in a House committee hearing in February that her organization is one of two in Illinois are working toward seceding from Illinois and creating a new state.
'Our goal is the constitutional formation of a new state separate from Illinois,' Merritt said.
Baldwin outlined Indiana's benefits compared to Illinois including better fiscal management, lower taxes and business-free policies and better infrastructure services. Indiana has lower income tax, corporate tax, sales tax, cigarette tax and fuel tax, Baldwin said, as well as lower property taxes.
'Many residents in Illinois feel like they are donor communities for Chicago,' Baldwin said. 'They feel like our Hoosier values are more aligned with their values.'
Indiana's unemployment rate is 1% lower compared to Illinois, Baldwin said. Further, Baldwin said Indiana has 'a strong sports legacy,' with NCAA basketball, Big Ten football and the Indy 500.
'It wouldn't happen overnight. We're just signaling to those Illinois counties that Indiana's open for business, and we'd be happy to accept them,' Baldwin said.
Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, asked Baldwin if he contacted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker if he would support the commission. Baldwin said he read in media reports that Pritzker is 'less than pleased with the measure,' so he doubted Pritzker would take his call.
Pritzker brushed off the proposal — and fired back at the neighboring state — when he was asked about it at an unrelated news conference in January.
'It's a stunt. It's not going to happen,' Pritzker said. '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 in need, and so I don't think it's very attractive for anybody in Illinois.'
A spokesman for Pritzker said Tuesday the governor's position on House Bill 1008 hasn't changed.
Even if Pritzker agreed, Taylor said with the research and discussions about shifting the border, as well as the required congressional approval, means the border wouldn't shift within his lifetime.
'This is a waste of time,' Taylor said. 'This is political. Stop playing games. Stop beating around the bushes.'
Illinois state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, filed Illinois House Bill 1500 and it 'does similar things and is comparable to the Indiana bill,' he previously said.
Illinois House Bill 1500 states that if Indiana House Bill 1008 becomes law then, within 60 days after receiving notice from the governor of Indiana, the Illinois governor should appoint five members to the Illinois-Indiana boundary adjustment commission.
Indiana 'just made history,' Halbrook said in a statement Tuesday, while Illinois House Bill 1500 still hasn't been given a hearing.
'But the tide is turning. Indiana's actions have energized this movement and validated what so many of us already know: our voices matter, and we have a right to be heard,' Halbrook said.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said many Indiana residents 'think this is a joke,' and that the Indiana legislature should be focused on other issues.
'We have so many major policies to address rather than sending political signals that we want to absorb other counties and study whether or not they want to join us,' Qaddoura said.
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said House Bill 1008 is 'a political stunt.' Indiana's wages remain stagnant, health care remains 'among the most dire in the country,' and affordable housing 'is increasingly out of reach for working Hoosiers,' Yoder said.
'These are the challenges that should be front and center for our state legislature. Instead, Indiana statehouse Republicans have spent the better part of this legislative session, and even started our session, naming House Bill 1008 as a priority focused on the people of Illinois,' Yoder said.
Yoder pointed to a Ball State University study, which found that if the 33 counties were their own state it would be the second poorest state in the U.S.
The counties pay less than $3,000 in taxes annually, but they require more than $5,000 in government services per year, Yoder said. Hoosiers would have to pay an additional $2 billion in taxes to subsidize the cost, she said.
Baldwin said he 'skimmed' at the Ball State study and that he did not agree 'with the assumptions that were made to generate the financial review.'
'If you're going to use Illinois finances and then compare them to Indiana finances you're pretty much off base already,' Baldwin said. 'The grass is always greener where you water it. We water it here in Indiana, that's why 33 counties want to come here. Indiana is open for business.'
The bill will be sent back to the House for final approval because it was amended in the Senate.