Among those speaking at the meeting was State Representative Brad Halbrook of Shelbyville. The Republican Lawmaker is the one that filed House Resolution 101, which urges Congress to declare the City of Chicago the 51st state and separate it from the rest of Illinois. Halbrook says one of the very first questions he often hears is can this happen—and he points out it has happened 4 times in our nation’s history. The last time it occurred was with West Virginia in the 1860s. Halbrook says another issue that often comes up is that the rest of Illinois couldn’t survive without Chicago’s contribution. But, Halbrook argues it certainly can.
Those in attendance also heard there are currently two groups—Illinois Separation who was in Vandalia on Saturday and another group, New Illinois, that are working on this project. When asked about what counties would be included in the potential “New Illinois” Halbrook said that would be left up to those that make this leap, as this process is going county by county. Right now the group is looking at two ways to declare a county for separation—either by gathering the needed signatures on petitions to place the item on the ballot or for the county board to pass a referendum to just place the issue on the ballot, which is what took place in Effingham County. Then, once the non-binding referendum is on the ballot then those counties voters would weigh in. We’ll have more on the meeting coming up tomorrow.
