ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Some Indiana lawmakers are hoping several Illinois counties will join their state. Now a newly formed commission will take a closer look at making it happen.

Clay Andrews has spent almost his entire life in western Indiana and he grew up just a hundred yards away from the Illinois border. But now, he is hoping to see that border pushed back and Indiana’s Governor Mike Braun has asked him to join the effort.

“I got a call from a guy from Braun’s office and I have met Braun a few times. He knows where we live and what I do and I guess he thought that I would be a good fit,” Andrews said.

Andrews is one of the new members of a new Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission.

The group has one goal: re-draw the state borders so that rural-conservative Illinois counties can join the more conservative leaning Indiana.

“You know, they wake up, work hard and do what they can for their families, and they’re just kind of tired of feeling like they’re not being represented by their state government,” Andrews said.

Parts of one state leaving to join another state hasn’t happened since West Virginia split from Virginia during the civil war. But, University of Illinois Springfield professor Kenneth Owen said that hasn’t stopped states from trying.

“At almost any time in American history, you will find some parts of the country, sometimes several parts of the country, in which these movements take place,” Owen said.

But Owen said there is something unique about this commission that other movements have lacked — the support of a state’s government.

“Very often this is something that’s formed by county boards, local officials, but it doesn’t really get that stamp of statewide approval,” Owen said.

Andrews said the next steps for the commission aren’t exactly clear. Their first meeting will be in October. He said what their conversations will be, or when any new maps could come out is still up in the air.

“It is fun to be on the, so to speak, front line, to look into it. You know, have discussions and hopefully we can serve this commission well and give the governor and the legislature what they want,” Andrews said.

Illinois officials have been mostly opposed to the commission. Earlier this year, Governor JB Pritzker called the commission a “stunt” and said it “was not going to happen.”