The Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would study the possibility of adopting 33 Illinois counties that have expressed their desire to secede. The bill, HB1008 or the “Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission,

A piece of legislation that would start the conversation surrounding the adjustment of the borders of Indiana and Illinois, or “Illiana,” has passed through the Indiana House of Representatives. According to a news release from the Indiana House Republicans,

House Bill 1008, authored by Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, has been panned by Illinois leaders as a stunt. On the House floor before the vote, Huston once again emphasized Indiana’s tax rates and rattled off economic statistics and framed his measure as a way to highlight the state’s progress.

House Republicans approved a bill Thursday to enhance Indiana’s role in enforcing federal immigration law. Rep. J.D. Prescott’s (R-Union City) bill would give the attorney general’s office more authority to investigate businesses that might be employing undocumented immigrants — and creates penalties for those that do.