Would Iowa absorb some of Illinois? An Iowa bill would allow boundary changes, but is unlikely to advance

DES MOINES — An Iowa state lawmaker is floating the idea of allowing Iowa to absorb western Illinois counties bordering the Hawkeye State along the Mississippi River, though it is not expected to advance this session.

Iowa state Rep. Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis, said he brought the legislation on Jan. 21 in response to interest from Illinois residents who live along the Iowa border who want to live in a “lower tax state.”

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Collins represents Iowa House District 90, which includes parts of Muscatine, Louisa and Des Moines counties along the Mississippi River.

“I know many folks on both sides of the river, and so there's, I know there's broad support for doing something,” Collins told the Quad-City Times. “There's a lot of folks, if they haven't quite made the step of moving across the river yet, they're looking for options to really not be governed by the folks in Chicago at this point.”

Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, a Republican from Northwood who chairs the Iowa House State Government Committee, said the bill will not be assigned to a subcommittee, which is the next step in the legislative process.

She said the bill was not ready to advance, but said it could be reintroduced in future legislative sessions.

For the last few years, there has been a growing secessionist movement among rural and Republican-leaning counties in Illinois that want to separate from the state, and more specifically, the heavily populated and Democratic Cook County, which includes Chicago.

Collins’ bill, House File 2141, would create an Illinois-Iowa boundary adjustment committee to recommend whether Iowa should absorb one or more Illinois counties along the Iowa border. The committee would be composed of 11 members — up to six appointed by the Iowa governor and five appointed by the governor of Illinois. Under the legislation, the group would be required to meet no later than Sept. 1, 2026.

Collins said that if the bill is signed into law, the Illinois General Assembly also would need to approve it. That would be unlikely, given Illinois officials' skeptical reaction to a similar bill that passed in Indiana last year, which Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called "a stunt."

Since 2020, voters in 33 Illinois counties, including Hancock County, which borders Lee County in southeastern Iowa, have approved ballot measures on separating from the state or at least from Cook County. Last fall, a border readjustment committee in Indiana held its first meeting to consider whether the Hoosier State should absorb some Illinois counties, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Illinois did not name anyone to the Indiana committee.

In 2025, Republican Iowa state Sen. Mike Bousselot of Ankeny proposed legislation that would allow Iowa to absorb Minnesota’s nine counties along the state border. The legislation did not advance past initial introduction.

Changes in state borders must be approved by both states and Congress. The last major change in state borders was in 1863, during the Civil War, when West Virginia was admitted to the Union after Virginia had joined the Confederacy.