Imagine Indiana and Illinois using the strengths of their economies to help both states grow, even as they compete.

A bill aiming to explore the possibility of a land exchange between Illinois and Indiana took a step closer to reality in the Indiana legislature.

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.

A proposal to have several Illinois counties join Indiana has advanced to the Indiana Senate after passing the House on Thursday.

The Indiana House gave a stamp of approval to Republican House Speaker Todd Huston’s bill that creates a commission to discuss how Illinois counties could secede from their state and join Indiana. House Bill 1008, a priority bill for House Republicans ...