On Wednesday, the Idaho House of Representatives passed a measure stating that Idaho is ready “to begin discussions with the Oregon Legislature regarding the potential to relocate the Oregon/Idaho state boundary.” The bill is a reaction to 11 counties in central to eastern Oregon seriously attempting to join Idaho, a state which they believe they have more in common with politically than western Oregon, which is dominated by left-wing hot spot Portland.
Known as the Greater Idaho movement, 11 rural Oregon counties have already voted to study a move to neighboring Idaho. Wallowa County in the extreme northeast area of Oregon, actually bordering Idaho, will vote on the measure in May.
The resolution, which passed the Idaho House by a 41-28 vote, notes Portland’s dominant influence on the rural counties in the eastern section of the state. “This small urban area is setting policy for the entire State of Oregon and is determining how all people in the State of Oregon, both urban and rural, are governed.”
It further notes that “governance by the State of Idaho would align much more closely with the values and interests of eastern Oregonians, as indicated by eastern Oregon’s history of voting in favor of Idaho’s majority political party at least as strongly as Idaho does.”
Among the laws that eastern Oregonians hope to escape is the 2020 legalization of hard drugs in the Beaver State, most of which remain illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Greater Idaho’s website claims that shifting the border would “reduce the ease of access and convenience of these dangerous products to those who might be tempted by them.”
Greater Idaho’s founder and leader Mike McCarter hopes that his movement might inspire other American counties who feel stifled and unheard by leftist-dominated cities.
“I think people within the United States are watching Oregon’s movement, hoping that it’ll establish a pathway for them in the future,” McCarter recently told the Daily Mail.
“Our movement is based on values,” McCarter added. “You know, the traditional values of faith, family, freedom, and independence.”
“We don’t want to be catered to by the government. In other words, if my power goes down, I have [a] generator, I have water, everything … food storage,” McCarter added.
Such self-reliance is a tough sell in Portland, which has been inundated with homeless encampments. The Rose City has also become one of the headquarters of the far-Left Antifa movement.
In January, a bill similar to the one just passed in Idaho was introduced in the Oregon Legislature, stating that “we, the members of the 82nd Legislative Assembly stand ready to begin discussions regarding the potential to relocate the Oregon/Idaho border, and invite the Idaho Legislature, the Governor of Idaho, and the Governor of Oregon to begin talks on this topic with this Legislative Assembly.”
Although that bill has been read in the Oregon Senate, it still needs the (unlikely) approval of new Senate President Rob Wagner to be discussed or voted on.
The Oregon bill points out that allowing those eastern counties to join Idaho “would put only nine percent of the population of Oregon under Idaho’s jurisdiction,” and would allow the Oregon Legislature to “focus entirely on the needs of western Oregon and would become more politically homogeneous.”
There is also an estimate that western Oregon could save more than $500 per year, per taxpayer by cutting the disaffected counties loose. A poll done by Survey USA found that only three percent of voters in northwest Oregon were willing to pay that much extra in taxes simply to keep Oregon intact.
Counties in other states, including Illinois, Maryland, and California, are also considering breaking away from population centers that dominate the political discourse in their respective states. But the Greater Idaho movement appears to be the most successful — not only can they offer the interested counties incentives to move to Idaho, they can also offer the left-wing population centers a reason to release those counties.
