That’s Becky4GreaterIdaho@outlook.com

To register and to get the rest of the info, click here. We sure hope to see you there! This is an opportunity to form county teams, strategize, and take action that will lead to success for our movement. There will be guest speakers and time to meet and socialize with other Greater Idaho supporters.

The Greater movement has an appointment with the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in a week, and we were told we’ll have one with the Governor of Oregon soon. Thank you for donating and volunteering to make this movement strong!

Please ask your representatives in Oregon or Idaho why they didn’t attend this historic event and whether they will organize one themself. Maybe consider running against them in the May election!

Press release:

Oregon & Idaho legislators meet on the Greater Idaho movement

Baker City – To discuss potential next steps for the Greater Idaho movement, a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, Vikki Breese-Iverson met today with her Idaho counterparts, Rep. Judy Boyle (R-Washington County) and Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R-Idaho Falls) in Baker City, Oregon.

Malheur county commissioner Ron Jacobs was in attendance, along with leaders of the Greater Idaho movement. Rep. Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) recently chose to step down from being the leader of the Republican caucus of the Oregon House.

“The Idaho House has already stated that we are ready to have discussions with the Oregon Legislature on how to advance Freedom for eastern Oregonians,” Rep. Judy Boyle said. Indeed, in February, the Idaho House of Representatives passed a resolution stating as much. The meeting in Baker City today is the first meeting pursuant to that invitation.

Mike McCarter, the leader of the movement, said “please thank Rep. Breese-Iverson for participating in the conversation!”

“Over the last three years, the Greater Idaho movement has won in twelve of the twelve eastern Oregon counties that have voted on this issue. As a state representative, I have a duty and responsibility to have conversations that could potentially better my constituents,” said Rep. Iverson. “It is clear: people in central and eastern Oregon do not align with all the values of those in Portland and Eugene. Is Greater Idaho the answer? I am not sure but I am willing to turn over all the rocks possible, for the land and people I love.”

The ultimate goal of the Greater Idaho movement is to relocate the Oregon/ Idaho state line to allow conservative, rural eastern Oregon to become a part of Idaho. Currently, the movement is asking the Oregon Legislature to have hearings on the sources of, and solutions to, the discontent in eastern Oregon.

The Greater Idaho movement believes that western Oregon leaders should want to let eastern Oregon join Idaho because it would benefit Oregon’s state budget, and because eastern Oregon’s state senators came close to blocking votes in the Oregon Senate permanently, as greateridaho.org, their website, explains. The leader of the movement, Mike McCarter, wrote that moving the state line would be good for the income taxes of both states: “Portland metro incomes are so high that any middle-income county that departs the Oregon state budget increases the average income of both Oregon and Idaho.”

Legislative Days:

Although the Oregon Legislature is not in session, they will meet for hearings November 6-8 and January 10-12. Although not every legislator attends in person on every day, it’s a good opportunity to try to catch legislators coming out of a hearing or you can schedule a meeting with your legislator in Salem ahead of time (and invite us to join you if they agree to meet you).

Rep. Janelle Bynum agreed to meet with us if we can find one of her constituents who wants to show up to her office in Salem during one of these legislative days in September. I think a Zoom meeting would be good enough. If you will volunteer, click “reply” on this email to let me know.

County Commissioner meetings on Greater Idaho are coming up in eastern Oregon in Morrow, Baker, and Grant counties. Please attend to tell your commissioners why they should get the Eastern Oregon Counties Association to endorse Greater Idaho.

Keep up the momentum!

With the difficulty we’ve had in the Oregon Legislature this year, we need donations to pay for a poll to find out if western Oregon voters would vote in favor of a Greater Idaho statewide ballot initiative. We also need funds for a lawyer to investigate whether a statewide ballot initiative could approve an interstate compact to move the state line. We also want to be able to rehire lobbyists immediately.

In order for our movement to make progress, please connect us with business owners and landowners who believe in the potential of this movement.