To secede or not to secede … that is the question.
With early voting underway, and the general election right around the corner Nov. 3, voters in McDonough County are being asked about a "new state." A referendum is on the ballot from the McDonough County Board asking voters if they would consider the "possibility of creating a new state and separating from Cook County."
The Referendum The wording that will appear is on the "Illinois Separation Referendum," which comes from a downstate organization not affiliated with the organization called "New Illinois," is: "Shall the Board of McDonough County CORRESPOND with the boards of other counties of Illinois outside of Cook County, about the POSSIBILITY of separating from Cook County to form a NEW STATE, and to seek admissions to the union as such, subject to the approval of the people?"
Illinois Separation director Loret Newlin had previously shared from the group's information packet, that the goals of forming a new state, "isn't about skin color (with different color heart emojis) or political party (with a red check box and a blue check box), IT IS ABOUT TAXES, VALUES, REPRESENTATION AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS."
Newlin would not answer further questions about the religious affiliations of her group, the "morals and values" that her group claims to have that differ from the northern part of the state and other pointed questions regarding the move to separate from Cook County.
"The ones who are for the separation will read the referendum and vote 'yes,' because it is really about taxes, values, representation, and Constitutional rights. That is a clear, simple statement,' Newlin concluded.
On the other side, Chris Merrett, director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University, explained such a move to form a new state would cost downstate millions in tax revenues reaped from Cook County. To put dollars into perspective, for every $1 that taxpayers, including taxpayers in west central Illinois, give to Springfield, they get $1.87 in benefits and investments from Springfield. Going into far southern Illinois, for every $1 that taxpayers pay to Springfield, they get $2.87 in funding, all while Chicago/Cook County receives around 90 cents for every $1 that taxpayers pay, Merrett pointed out.
"If a secession happened, the West Prairie School District for example would have to come up with additional 47 percent – or $1.2 million – that the Chicagoland region previously provided to maintain the same quality of education in the district," Merrett concluded. "This would mean higher property taxes to fund this locally, or higher income taxes sent to the new state to make up for the budget shortfall. The other alternative is to reduce the quality of education. The bottom line is that without the added support from Chicago and the suburbs, communities in the new state will either have to raise taxes or cut services."
At the June McDonough County Board Meeting, the Board passed a resolution, 15 to 3, to place the referendum on the November ballot. Board members voting in favor of the referendum included Eric Blakeley, Eric Chapman, Clayton Cook, Dave Cortelyou, Mike Cox, Joe Erlandson, Craig Foster, Travis Hiel, Vicky Kipling, Ryan Litchfield, Clayton Murphy, Riley Smith, Terry Thompson and Roger Ward, while Ken Durkin, Allen Henderson and Dana Roy Walker voted against the measure.
Board member Clayton Cook (R), who represents McDonough County Board District 2, invited Newlin, to the June Law & Legal Committee to speak about her group's initiative.
