Eastern Oregon is relatively rural and
conservative, compared to more heavily populated moderate to
liberal western urban areas, which have a majority in the
Oregon Legislative Assembly. Idaho is relatively conservative overall compared to Oregon, motivating some conservatives in eastern Oregon to advocate for relocating the border.[7]Tina Kotek, the incumbent
Oregon governor, acknowledged the movement in 2023 saying, "I think there are a lot of Oregonians who are frustrated and don’t feel heard. That, I think, is what the movement is about."[8]
A number of state laws differ dramatically between Oregon and Idaho.[9] The
drug policy of Oregon is among the most permissive in the nation, including the legalization of recreational
marijuana and
decriminalization of personal possession of all illicit drugs. The Idaho state legislature opposes the rise of
marijuana dispensaries in eastern Oregon serving customers from the
Boise metro area; by moving the border further west, it could increase the travel time to the nearest dispensaries, which is about an hour.[7] In addition to changes in
tax policy and minimum wages,
abortion access is also starkly different between the two states, with Idaho having a
total ban on abortion while Oregon imposes
no legal restrictions.
Timeline
In 2020, the group called "Move Oregon's Border for a Greater Idaho" proposed breaking off most of Oregon's area and some of
Northern California and join it with Idaho. In 2021, five counties in eastern Oregon voted to "require county officials to take steps to promote" adding the counties to Idaho.[10] As of June 2023, twelve counties in Oregon had approved ballot measures in favor of Greater Idaho:
Baker,
Grant,
Harney,
Jefferson,
Klamath,
Lake,
Malheur,
Morrow,
Sherman,
Union,
Wallowa, and
Wheeler.[11][12]
In May 2022, voters in
Douglas and
Josephine counties rejected proposals to join, causing the proponents to scale back the scope of the proposal and issue a "less ambitious" map that excludes
Southern Oregon west of
Klamath County. The reduced scope includes only Oregon’s eastern territory save for small portions of
Deschutes and
Wasco counties. The latest map only covers about one third of the originally targeted areas. The majority of the remaining inhabitants live in Umatilla County, which is home to Hermiston and Pendleton, the two largest cities in the region. As of May 2023, Umatilla County has not shown enough interest to place the issue on the ballot.[citation needed]
In February 2023, the House State Affairs committee of the
Idaho House of Representatives approved a resolution to authorize the legislature to discuss moving the state border with Oregon lawmakers.[13] This was subsequently passed by the Idaho House of Representatives.[14] A similar bill was introduced in the
Oregon State Senate; Senate President
Rob Wagner stated that it was unlikely that the bill would move forward in the 2023 session.[15] In May 2023, Wallowa County approved a ballot measure in favor of Greater Idaho by just seven votes.[16][17]
^Stites, Sam (May 24, 2022).
"Greater Idaho movement scales back plan for Oregon annexation". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from
the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024. The May 17 losses caused leaders to issue the 'less ambitious' map as part of what they called 'phase 1' of their project. The reduced scope includes only 15 counties representing roughly 386,000 Oregonians, a little more than a third of the original map's 900,000 in population. According to backers, the area outlines 64% of Oregon's landmass but just 9% of its population.