A10
News
wallowa.com
October 14, 2015
Wallowa County Chieftain
THE STATE OF NEW IDAHO
La Grande man pushing for eastern
counties’ secession to Idaho
By Jade McDowell
EO Media Group
Residents in eastern Or-
egon and Washington have
discussed breaking away from
their more liberal neighbors to
form a new state for years, but
a new twist has been added to
the conversation: Why form
a new state when the rural
counties could just join Idaho
instead?
Ken Parsons, a 72-year-old
farmer from La Grande, said
the idea was À oated offhand by
someone else in a letter to the
editor in the La Grande Ob-
server. After thinking about it
for a couple of months and dis-
cussing it with friends, Parsons
said he has decided to try to get
input from residents of neigh-
boring counties, including
Umatilla and Morrow County.
“It’s an intriguing idea,” he
said.
As Parsons sees it, rural Or-
egon and Washington residents
who are tired of being outvot-
ed by the population centers
in Portland and Seattle would
be better understood by politi-
cians from the more rural, con-
servative Idaho. Legislators
born and raised in the most
urban parts of their state “don’t
have any idea,” he said, of
how environmental lobbyists
often hurts farmers, hunters
and others in more rural parts
of the state.
“The environmental regu-
lations that come out of Salem
make it almost impossible to
do my work,” he said.
Dr. Jeffrey Dense, a polit-
ical science professor at East-
ern Oregon University, called
the logistics of trying to create
a new, larger Idaho “largely in-
surmountable.”
“Given the inability of
Puerto Rico and Washington,
D.C., to effectuate this type of
large scale change, disgruntled
citizens would be better off to
get involved with politics in-
stead of complaining about the
state of affairs,” he said in an
email.
A state boundary hasn’t
been redrawn in the United
States since West Virginia was
carved out of Virginia in 1863.
The idea of seceding from one
state to the other is hardly new,
however, and various efforts
have landed on ballots and on
the À oor of state legislatures
across the country.
Occasionally, those efforts
STILL RUNNING OUT
TO FETCH THE
PAPER?
6 months $26.00
1year * $40.00
1year, online $40.00
Subscribe
Today!
The
541-426-4567 • wallowa.com
* $40.00 is the in county price, $57.00 for out of county subscribers.
Wallowa
County
Chieftain
New Idaho: Re-drawing the map
A La Grande, Ore. farmer is seeking comment on the idea of eastern portions of Washington and
Oregon joining Idaho. The new, supersized Idaho would see a 125 percent population increase.
Proposed state of Idaho
Area in detail
Spokane
Seattle
WASHINGTON
Olympia
Yakima
Oregonian research
Pendleton
Portland
Jade McDowell
and Alan Kenaga/
EO Media Group
La Grande
Salem
Eugene
IDAHO
Bend
Burns
Boise
Idaho Falls
OREGON
Pocatello
Twin Falls
Medford
“
Given the inability of Puerto Rico and
Washington, D.C., to effectuate this type of
large scale change, disgruntled citizens would
be better off to get involved with politics. ...”
Dr. Jeffrey Dense
a political science professor at Eastern Oregon University
have even come close to fru-
ition. In 2002 the U.S. House
of Representatives voted unan-
imously to allow state legisla-
tors to adjust the Nevada-Utah
state boundary. The move
would have been a minor one,
but it would have allowed the
economically struggling city
of Wendover, Utah, to join
the casino-rich city of West
Wendover, Nevada, and get
rid of what residents called
an invisible “Berlin Wall” in
the community creating poor
infrastructure and schools on
one side of the state line and
abundant services on the other.
The bill ended up dying in the
Senate, however, after Nevada
Senator Harry Reid opposed it.
According to 2014 data
from the U.S. Census Bureau,
Idaho currently has 1,634,464
residents. That would rise to
3,680,297 people if all 17 Ore-
gon counties east of Hood Riv-
er County and the 20 Wash-
ington counties east of King
County jumped ship.
Oregon, meanwhile, would
go from 3,970,239 residents
to 3,471,709 and Washington
would drop from 7,061,530
residents to 5,514,227.
How that would affect each
state’s representation in Wash-
ington, D.C., would depend on
how other states’ populations
changed at the same time.
The 435 seats in the House
of Representatives are appor-
tioned every 10 years based on
population counts in the latest
census. If other states’ popula-
tions stayed roughly propor-
tionate to their current levels,
Washington would likely lose
two of its 10 seats, adding
them to Idaho’s current two
seats, while it would be a close
call on whether Oregon would
hang on to its ¿ ve represen-
tatives or lose one to another
state.
The number of Electoral
College votes a state receives
is equal to the number of U.S.
senators and representatives
the state has, which would
give Idaho more sway in presi-
dential elections too.
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep-
pner, said during his fresh-
man year in the Oregon state
legislature in 2001 he tried to
introduce the idea of creating
a state of Eastern Oregon, but
couldn’t even get a hearing on
it.
“I know there’s a real frus-
tration with the urban-rural di-
vide,” he said.
However, he also said
Inspections
Chimney Sweeping
Tuck Pointing
Weather Proofing
Masonry
Relining
Caps Sales
Pressure Washing
Dryer Vent Cleaning
Fall is Here – Call TODAY!
503.724.2299 • tyhaux@chim-chimneysweeps.com
CCB#202616 • Serving Wallowa & Union Counties
t S udent
k
e
e
W
e
of th
Robin Sands is a junior at Joseph
Charter School. She is being
recognized as our student of the week,
not only for her academics, but for her
kindness as well. She is currently
doing an amazing project in
Leadership class which is making our
school a better place. Congratulations
from the staff and administration for
Robin Sands
Circa 1980
“The reports of my
retirement have been
greatly exaggerated.”
Grant Darrow Chimney Sweep
your contributions to our school.
Joseph Charter School
The Student of the Week is chosen for
academic achievement and community
involvement. Students are selected
by the administrators of
their respective schools.
that although Eastern Oregon
provides the state with food
and ¿ ber, the west side of the
state provides a tax base that
supports state services. The
transportation package, for
example, that both sides of the
aisle would like to see come to
fruition would likely result in
Eastern Oregon infrastructure
bene¿ ting from tax money
generated by Portland resi-
dents.
Parsons said he knows
that getting rural Oregon and
Washington counties to join
Idaho is a long shot.
“If it came to fruition it
would probably not be in my
lifetime,” he said.
To start the discussion he
emailed every state legislator
in all three states, contacted
newspapers in the area and
started a forum on Yahoo
Groups titled “Oregon and
Washington Joining Idaho”
to discuss logistics like what
would happen with assets like
state prisons and universities
in counties that voted to join
Idaho.
“I ¿ gured there are a whole
lot of people smarter than me
who could ¿ gure all that out,”
he said.
Parsons realizes that gov-
ernment of¿ cials in Boise may
not want to take on more rural
counties, even if they also got
population centers like Spo-
kane, the Tri-Cities and Bend.
The U.S. Congress would have
to approve.
Still, he said if Eastern Or-
egon did secede to Idaho, lo-
cal residents wouldn’t have to
worry so much about Portland
residents pushing laws like a
$15 an hour minimum wage
on rural areas.
“If they want to buy a $20
Big Mac that’s ¿ ne with me,”
he said.
To access the Yahoo Group
online visit groups.yahoo.com/
neo/groups/Washingtonan-
dOregonjoiningIdaho.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
Local investing
workshops
scheduled
Oregon has a new law al-
lowing people to invest in Ore-
gon businesses, and encourages
Oregon’s entrepreneurs to raise
capital from their neighbors.
The Northeast Community Cap-
ital Collaborative (NEOC3) and
Hatch Oregon are teaming up
to help Northeast Oregonians
spread the word with an eve-
ning presentation in Joseph. The
event, open to the public, will be
held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct.
21, at Stein Distillery, 604 N.
Main St., in Joseph.
Suggested donation is $5 to
$15. No registration is required.
Four Oregon entrepreneurs
will discuss their experience
with local investing: John
Childers of Baker City Sad-
dle Co.; Stuart Phillips of Red
Wagon Creamery using lo-
cal, seasonal fruit, berries and
produce; John MacDougall of
MacDougall & Sons Bat com-
pany selling real wood baseball
bats; and Kyle Akin of Cre-
scendo Organic Spirits, maker
of ‘cellos’ (Italian liqueurs) in
a variety of À avors.
Hatch Oregon also offers a
webinar to discuss the basics of a
Community Public Offering for
entrepreneurs on Oct. 14 (a one-
day event, not a series). Register
at: www.eventbrite.com and use
the password NEOEDD to take
the webinar free.