The Oregon state senator is introducing a bill to give 65% of Beaver State to Idaho after conservative residents of 11 counties voted to join its GOP-voting neighboring state
- State Senator Dennis Linthicum introduced Senate Joint Memorial 2
- Also known as the Greater Idaho Act, it would move 11 counties to Idaho
- The bill was introduced after Oregon’s recent state election
- Democrats hold the governor’s mansion and majority in the state legislature
The move by residents of eastern Oregon to secede from the state and join Idaho has gone a step further after a Republican state senator introduced a bill that would allow 11 counties to join their neighboring state.
State Senator Dennis Linthicum introduced Senate Joint Memorial 2, also known as the Greater Idaho Act, on Jan. 10.
“Eastern Oregon is much more like Idaho culturally, politically and economically than western Oregon,” said Matt McCaw, a spokesman for the Greater Idaho Movement.
“Our movement is about self-determination and putting people in government that they want and that conforms to their values. Oregon has had this urban-rural divide for a very long time.”
State Senator Dennis Linthicum introduced Senate Joint Memorial 2, also known as the Greater Idaho Act, on Jan. 10
Though the movement has been brewing for some time, the bill was introduced after Oregon’s recent state election, in which a Republican was just four points away from winning the governor’s mansion for the first time since 1987.
Republican candidate Christine Drazan, the GOP House leader, failed in her efforts against Democrat Tina Kotek
Kotek, the state’s first openly gay woman to serve as speaker, will succeed outgoing Gov. Kate Brown, who dismissed the Greater Idaho Movement and previous GOP attempts to remove her from office.
Democrats in the more progressive western portion of the state, which includes Oregon and the two big college cities, not only fell short of the left in the gubernatorial race, but still led the left to a majority of 10 seats in the state house and 5 .Seat majority in the Senate.
Eleven counties in eastern Oregon have voted in favor so far, and four other counties, including Wallowa, are included in the proposal to move the state lines.
“Our proposal is to take this Oregon-Idaho line that was set almost 200 years ago in a very different time when there were only 50,000 people in the state of Oregon … it made sense then, it doesn’t make sense now if you have those.” Border there because that’s not where the cultural divide is,” McCaw said.
Idaho’s government is even more Republican-dominated than Oregon’s Democrats.
The move to divide the state through political leanings was emphasized after a close governor’s race in which Democrat Tina Kotek (right) won to succeed Kate Brown (right).
Republicans have a 28-7 majority in the Idaho Senate and a 58-12 majority in the Legislature.
Idaho has not elected a Democratic governor since 1995.
“The policies and government that work for western Oregon that western Oregonians want don’t work in eastern Oregon, and that’s not what eastern Oregonians want,” McCaw said.
Regardless of how residents vote, Legislatures in Oregon, Idaho and the US Congress would have to give the approval of Legislators in Oregon, Idaho and the US Congress to actually change state boundaries.
While Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he sympathized with the greater Idaho cause, he conceded it was likely going nowhere.
The Idaho-Oregon border (pictured) would be moved west if the law were passed
Idaho Gov. Brad Little said it was unlikely the movement could succeed
“There’s still a lot that needs to happen before moving the border is within the realm of possibility,” Little said.
Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner, a Democrat, doesn’t think the bill will go ahead.
However, McCaw sees no downside in his departure.
“We’ve been to the Idaho legislature, we have a lot of support in the Idaho legislature for this idea. They see the benefit in bringing 400,000 like-minded people to their state. It makes Idaho stronger; it gives the people the government they want and it’s a win-win for everyone involved.”