That’s electoral votes and congressional seats. And money.
And the red counties in CA, OR and WA are watching.
Hope it sets a precedent for Western Maryland
We been trying to get free for decades.
WV wants us.
The money part will be most difficult. Many of those who would merge with Indiana are vested into IL state pensions. And the state pension is massively in the red already. And of course, the current government employees in these counties may not continue paying into the pension plan. The schools and county and city jobs will flip to IN. Only some state workers *may* continue working for the state of IL but hard to see how as any state offices in those regions won’t be necessary. Maybe IN can use them, or maybe IN has its own different way of doing things.