The U.S. state borders have been the same for decades, but apparently, Illinois counties didn’t get the memo. Now, Indiana is swooping in to be their savior.

Our story begins way back in 2018, when a new group called New Illinois emerged. The group was founded because many smaller counties in Illinois were fed up with the idea that everything was being dictated by Cook County, which is home to about 40% of the state’s population. Then, in 2020, these smaller counties made their big move: officially declaring that 33 counties wished to secede from Illinois and become the 51st state.

But wait, 51 states!? How dare they propose such a wild idea! Imagine the chaos: if Illinois gets to split, then California will want to split, then Texas, then Florida. Before you know it, we’d have 100 nifty United States. I mean, think of the costs to change even just the road signs, not to mention the maps, license plates, and more! However, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston made a plan. Why go through all the trouble of creating a brand-new state when these counties could just join Indiana instead? After all, who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by endless cornfields and soybeans?

In January 2025, Huston introduced Bill 1008, which would establish the Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission. Now, here’s what you need to know about the IIBAC, or Bill 1008:

• The main point of the bill is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of redrawing the state lines.
• Indiana would appoint 6 commissioners, and Illinois would appoint 5 under each state’s respective laws.
• The Indiana law says that a quorum of six members is required for the commission to take official action.

In April 2025, the Indiana Senate approved the bill with 36 votes, giving Huston’s plan real momentum. By May 1, Governor Mike Braun signed it into law. Then, on July 1, the commission officially went into action. Fast forward to early September, and Braun had already appointed the first five commissioners, ready to get the ball rolling.

Meanwhile, Illinois hasn’t done… well, anything. They haven’t passed a similar law to appoint their own commissioners, meaning the commission currently looks like a one-sided group project with Indiana doing all the work. The Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker even dismissed the whole thing, saying it’s “political theater” and insulted Indiana in the process, calling it a “low-wage state.” Could this possibly start a war between Indiana and Illinois?

Even with Illinois not making any plans currently, it doesn’t matter, as the Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission only needs 6 members to take action. Seeing as Indiana can already appoint 6 members, they can have a meeting with no input from Illinois. Also, the law dictates that they must hold their first meeting no later than December 1st.

While this all might seem like it’s happening very quickly, the actual chance of the state borders getting changed anytime soon is very unlikely. The reason for this is that, according to the U.S. Constitution, both state legislatures and Congress have to sign off on any border changes. Which means this is less about “proverbially packing up the car and heading to corn country” and more about a bunch of logistics and waiting. But someday, we could possibly have some Illinois counties join the Hoosier family.