Illinois is an interesting state. Area-wise it is Republican. Chicago and Cook County is overwhelmingly Democrat which makes the entire state look Democratic. And with all Democrat states, high taxes, high debt, high crime.

So now some counties are exploring the option to leave and join neighboring Republican states like Indiana.

If this comes through, it may be a template.

Should Illinois counties be able to secede and join Indiana? Indiana speaker says yes
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/14/indiana-general-assembly-bill-allows-illinois-counties-succeed-join-indiana/77696471007/

Quote:

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An Indiana General Assembly bill filed by one of the state's most powerful lawmakers would set up a commission to "embrace" neighboring counties in Illinois that want to secede and join the Hoosier state.

House Bill 1008, which was unveiled on Tuesday by House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, would create a so-called "Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission," with the goal of embracing Illinois counties "that want to join low-tax, low-cost Indiana."
The House Republicans included the bill on a list of their top priorities for the 2025 session, which specifically noted that dozens of counties in Illinois have voted since 2020 "to secede from their high-tax state."
The actual language of the bill is unclear as it hasn't been posted yet, but Huston said Tuesday that Indiana would seek to follow the "constitutional process for redrawing state boundaries."
"To all of our neighbors in the West, we hear your frustrations and invite you to join us in low-cost, low-tax Indiana," Huston said.
The bill isn't meant to "stir up trouble with Illinois," Huston said, calling it a "serious" proposal.
The move follows seven Illinois counties voting to explore secession in the November election.
Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Green, Jersey, Madison and Perry counties - all rural counties in Illinois - voted affirmatively in November to the question of whether the counties should explore "the possibility of separating from Cook County to form a new state and to seek admission to the Union as such."
Overall, the counties that have voted to secede from Illinois are rural counties cloistered in the Southern and Central areas of Illinois. Many sit along the Indiana border or close to it, though not all.
"Instead of seceding and being a 51st state, they should just join us," Huston said.
He said it would require Illinois lawmakers to pass a similar resolution. It's unclear what the political appetite for that would be.
"We've always said we're a welcoming state," Huston said. "We look forward to the opportunity to welcome people to Indiana."
However, Illinois officials, including state Attorney General Kwame Raoul, previously raised skepticism about the idea of Illinois counties seceding, according to reporting from NBC5 Chicago.
"It is my opinion that non-home-rule counties ... do not have the authority to secede from the state of Illinois and join another state," Raoul wrote in 2023.

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All talk. Nothing will happen.

Or….

Let Indiana border counties join Illinois and turn illonois red!

I agree there should be a lawful process. There is precedent.

"May" like I may have dinner with Melania tonight.

find it interesting but not holding my breath. eastern counties in Oregon & Washington have been talking about joining Idaho for years. north eastern counties in Cali have been talking about joining Idaho or Nevada. even seen some rumblings of south eastern Cali talking about joining Nevada or Arizona. lotta talk but very little action so far. will be very interesting to watch if/when the first domino falls.

I'm curious how this would work. Are we talking border counties, or are counties on the interior looking for a sane home? If this happened, this would presumably redraw state borders, thus making obsolete all current maps and globes.

The state has to let you leave. They won't, thats why nothing comes of those places and nothing will come from this.

Illinois is not going to these counties leave.

We need to bring back a new form of City States for the modern day. People in Chicago want high taxes, high crime, high corruption, then it should be limited to Chicago and not forced on the rest of the state

CDUB98 said:

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All talk. Nothing will happen.

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Very true if people have this sucky defeatist attitude.

Why cant people understand the answer is always no unless you have the balls to give something you really believe in your best effort.

Im Gipper said:

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The state has to let you leave. They won't, thats why nothing comes of those places and nothing will come from this.

Illinois is not going to these counties leave.

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So these counties should be forced to send their tax dollars to the hell hole that is Chicago. Doesn't this make them serfs. By the way Ill is one of if not the heaviest taxed state in the Union. The far left policies of Cook county and the city of Chicago are absolutely killing the rest of that state. Nobody should be forced to live in what is basically an occupation zone.

This is America we dont do serfdom.

Maroon Dawn said:

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We need to bring back a new form of City States for the modern day. People in Chicago want high taxes, high crime, high corruption, then it should be limited to Chicago and not forced on the rest of the state

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This. Same in all states that are dominated by single giant dem controlled urban hell holes.

NY, Ill, and GA are prime examples

Three consecutive posts of absolute truth.

ttu_85 said:

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Im Gipper said:

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The state has to let you leave. They won't, thats why nothing comes of those places and nothing will come from this.

Illinois is not going to these counties leave.

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So these counties should be forced to send their tax dollars to the hell hole that is Chicago. Doesn't this make them serfs. By the way Ill is one of if not the heaviest taxed state in the Union. The far left policies of Cook county and the city of Chicago are absolutely killing the rest of that state. Nobody should be forced to live in what is basically an occupation zone.

This is America we dont do serfdom.

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Under the Constitution, sadly, yes.

Both things are true: Cook County is killing the rest of the State, and those other counties can't leave constitutionally without permission from the State.

So to that extent, America does do serfdom. Sadly.

The people are free to live wherever they want…

The physical land is another thing…

Could they not claim their official residence in IN ??

CDUB98 said:

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All talk. Nothing will happen.

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Self-fulfilling prophecies from our typical debbie downer types.

Things change for the better when people stop being negative towards any possibility of positive change.

CDUB98 said:

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All talk. Nothing will happen.

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Yes, but this concept makes me giddy. The second the first county realigns to an adjacent state, the map becomes chaos. All of the "blue states" are just red countryside with blue tumors and many of those rural counties would happily jump ship. Some blue tumors in red states would happily jump as well. Tens of millions could get government that better reflects their interests if this box gets opened. Management of rural lands would be freed from urban edicts. And with rare exception the benefit would be an electoral college advantage to the good guys.

Illinois should just kick out Cook County. Then they'd be just fine.

Im Gipper said:

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ttu_85 said:

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Im Gipper said:

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The state has to let you leave. They won't, thats why nothing comes of those places and nothing will come from this.

Illinois is not going to these counties leave.

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So these counties should be forced to send their tax dollars to the hell hole that is Chicago. Doesn't this make them serfs. By the way Ill is one of if not the heaviest taxed state in the Union. The far left policies of Cook county and the city of Chicago are absolutely killing the rest of that state. Nobody should be forced to live in what is basically an occupation zone.

This is America we dont do serfdom.

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Under the Constitution, sadly, yes.

Both things are true: Cook County is killing the rest of the State, and those other counties can't leave constitutionally without permission from the State.

So to that extent, America does do serfdom. Sadly.

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Correct
Libertarians (Big L and little l) all love to talk big about keeping power local and limited big level government, but the Constitution was written to consolidate power at the State level.

I know in Texas all of the "local" govts are political subdivisions of the State. The State creatith and the State can take away (see the State takeover of Houston Schools).

Those counties can talk all day long about wanting to move to a different state, but until the state says "you may go" they don't have the necessary army to force the issue.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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Im Gipper said:

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ttu_85 said:

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Im Gipper said:

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The state has to let you leave. They won't, thats why nothing comes of those places and nothing will come from this.

Illinois is not going to these counties leave.

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So these counties should be forced to send their tax dollars to the hell hole that is Chicago. Doesn't this make them serfs. By the way Ill is one of if not the heaviest taxed state in the Union. The far left policies of Cook county and the city of Chicago are absolutely killing the rest of that state. Nobody should be forced to live in what is basically an occupation zone.

This is America we dont do serfdom.

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Under the Constitution, sadly, yes.

Both things are true: Cook County is killing the rest of the State, and those other counties can't leave constitutionally without permission from the State.

So to that extent, America does do serfdom. Sadly.

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Correct
Libertarians (Big L and little l) all love to talk big about keeping power local and limited big level government, but the Constitution was written to consolidate power at the State level.

I know in Texas all of the "local" govts are political subdivisions of the State. The State creatith and the State can take away (see the State takeover of Houston Schools).

Those counties can talk all day long about wanting to move to a different state, but until the CITY-state says "you may go" they don't have the necessary army to force the issue. And your serfdom continues

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Edited for accuracy.

Maroon Dawn said:

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We need to bring back a new form of City States for the modern day. People in Chicago want high taxes, high crime, high corruption, then it should be limited to Chicago and not forced on the rest of the state

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Sure…….until it turns into Hunger Games

Ahhh, the keyboard warriors who don't actually do anything themselves come down on me for pointing out the reality of the world.

How many years now have counties in Washington, Oregon, and California been trying to secede from their states? Probably getting close to a decade now.

Also, does Congress and the state have to approve this? Yup. The odds, pretty much zero, especially with a 1 seat lead in the House with a bunch of RINOs.

It's really sad your tender feelings can't handle the reality of what has actually happened and apply the learnings to the same situation.

But keep on typing, warriors. Maybe someday all your text lashing will make your dreams come true.

Fins Up! said:

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Illinois should just kick out Cook County. Then they'd be just fine.

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Awesome idea. Do something like how constitutional amendments are performed by states but do it on a county level with a state.. Say 2/3rds or even 3/4ths of the counties of a given state vote in favor of such an arrangement it passes. Then in this case there is a vote in IN. If the counties in both states vote yes the exchange takes place.

That way a Cook or Fulton county dont absolutely rule the state.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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Im Gipper said:

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ttu_85 said:

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Im Gipper said:

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The state has to let you leave. They won't, thats why nothing comes of those places and nothing will come from this.

Illinois is not going to these counties leave.

---

So these counties should be forced to send their tax dollars to the hell hole that is Chicago. Doesn't this make them serfs. By the way Ill is one of if not the heaviest taxed state in the Union. The far left policies of Cook county and the city of Chicago are absolutely killing the rest of that state. Nobody should be forced to live in what is basically an occupation zone.

This is America we dont do serfdom.

---

Under the Constitution, sadly, yes.

Both things are true: Cook County is killing the rest of the State, and those other counties can't leave constitutionally without permission from the State.

So to that extent, America does do serfdom. Sadly.

---

Correct
Libertarians (Big L and little l) all love to talk big about keeping power local and limited big level government, but the Constitution was written to consolidate power at the State level.

I know in Texas all of the "local" govts are political subdivisions of the State. The State creatith and the State can take away (see the State takeover of Houston Schools).

Those counties can talk all day long about wanting to move to a different state, but until the state says "you may go" they don't have the necessary army to force the issue.

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I think if those counties have referendums or whatever and a super majority of people want to go I think the state will be forced to listen. They may not agree to let them leave, but they may get concessions instead. Nobody wants to live as slaves in this country and we certainly don't like taxation without representation - which is essentially what they have now. Its really up to those people to put up a fuss - nobody can do this for them except themselves.

Maroon Dawn said:

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We need to bring back a new form of City States for the modern day. People in Chicago want high taxes, high crime, high corruption, then it should be limited to Chicago and not forced on the rest of the state

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THAT. More than one state as posts above show, are needing to redraw boundaries to reflect their regional character. One of the things like about the Greenland idea is it can also shake up this idea of boundaries staying fixed and no growth or re-alignment. A few more years of Bidenism was going to need to see Texas act for example.

CDUB98 said:

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Ahhh, the keyboard warriors who don't actually do anything themselves come down on me for pointing out the reality of the world.

How many years now have counties in Washington, Oregon, and California been trying to secede from their states? Probably getting close to a decade now.

Also, does Congress have to approve this? Yup. The odds, pretty much zero, especially with a 1 seat lead in the House with a bunch of RINOs.

It's really sad your tender feelings can't handle the reality of what has actually happened and apply the learnings to the same situation.

But keep on typing, warriors. Maybe someday all your text lashing will make your dreams come true.

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Ha. Maybe. Meanwhile the ole do nothing, head up the ass will NEVER accomplish anything-- this is a certainty..

Maybe you just need to go all lib. I'd hate to have a "teammate" with your attitude.

Bless your heart.

Who has their head up their ass? The one who observes reality, or the one who lives in la-la land with zero supporting evidence and goes by his feelz?

The parasites will not allow the host to leave.

I also see this as another sign of the war between Republicans and Democrats heating up. People are uncomfortable with "other party rule" and are looking for ways out. This however might be a bridge too far so to speak and if it picks up steam and fails could result in a bunch of very unhappy people that might do what unhappy people do...

Problem is history shows more than most, it is generally the "never will happens" that are most shown false by events. Its a classic case of things "just go along----...until they don't."

Passions drive events. When they change, entire edifices are brought down. Just like that. Boundaries that have stood for centuries evaporate.

It will be immediately noticed though, that passions are very difficult to predict. This is why the `never happens' are usually wrong. They have no sense of the mortality of agreements and consensus on something.

ttu_85 said:

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Maroon Dawn said:

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We need to bring back a new form of City States for the modern day. People in Chicago want high taxes, high crime, high corruption, then it should be limited to Chicago and not forced on the rest of the state

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This. Same in all states that are dominated by single giant dem controlled urban hell holes.

NY, Ill, and GA are prime examples

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I spent a fair amount of time in rural NY and PA. The south does not have a monopoly on rednecks. The people are great when you get past their funny little accents.

You are correct. "Never" is a mighty long time!

But I think we can say with a great deal of confidence that these counties will not leave Illinois in the foreseeable future including during the life of any poster on F16.

Libs depend on these counties to pay for everything. They will never ever voluntarily take their claws out of them!

(I am confident of using "never" in that last sentence. It just how a lib is.)

In Iowa, one of our state senators has proposed buying the bottom 9 counties in Minnesota. Minnesota is similar to Illinois in that the Twin Cities keep the state blue even though almost all the rural counties are red.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/14/iowa-senator-mike-bousselot-proposes-bill-to-let-state-buy-9-southern-minnesota-counties/77698708007/