Per the USA Today, there’s a proposal from two downstate Illinois lawmakers to make Chicago the 51st state, detaching it from Illinois. It’s no grand secret that Illinois is financially screwed because of various incompetent decisions from Illinois politicians. Much of the blame for the current political climate in the state is laid at the feet of Chicago area politicians.
But would any proposal making Chicago the 51st state actually make a dent in the problems of Illinois?
People from downstate are sick of being dictated to by Chicago. Proof of this statement? Our sitting governor won the three Chicago-area counties and was re-elected much to the consternation of many in the state. Separating Chicago would give the Chicago area the chance to have its’ own more liberal government, while Illinois could then elect a government that would be more conservative in character.
There’s also the matter of debt, Chicago provides the greatest sales tax revenue and is the biggest financial load on the state. Illinois can't just be forgiven for Chicago debt and with a lower revenue stream coming in, the state of Illinois may be in even worse shape, if Chicago is taken out of the state.
Long story short, this deal sounds like a no-win because while proponents would be free of domination from the Chicago machine, they'd still have a massive pile of debt that only a metropolis the size of Chicago could deal with.
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