Salem, OR – A second “Greater Idaho” bill was introduced in the Oregon
State Legisalature on Tuesday. The bill, HB 3844, would create a state
taskforce to “document the state and federal legal and legislative
processes that must take place to relocate the Oregon and Idaho state
boundaries…” The legislature is already considering a bill in the
Senate, SJM7, which is a memorial inviting the state of Idaho to begin
border talks. The Idaho Legisalture passed a similar memorial in 2023.
House Bill 3844, introduced by Representative Mark Owens of Crane and
co-sponsored by Reps. Bobby Levy, Vikki Breese-Iverson and Emily
McIntire, takes a different approach from the Senate bill. While SJM7
would begin border negotiations, the house bill would create a study
group comprised of multiple stakeholders from across Oregon, who would
then be tasked with attempting to answer some of the detail questions of
a border change, like the impact on certain industries.
Greater Idaho Executive Director Matt McCaw praised the new legislation.
“We are encouraged to see the representatives of Eastern Oregon coming
together to advocate for their voters by bringing these bills to the
Legislature. The people of Eastern Oregon have made clear they want to
explore moving the border and joining Idaho. If the Oregon Legislature
truly believes in democracy, they will honor those voters’ wishes and
move forward on making a border change happen.”
President of the movement, Mike McCarter, agreed. “This movement has
always been about the people of Eastern Oregon, getting their voice
heard and helping those communities get the kind of state-level
governance they actually want. We have asked the people and know which
state they prefer. Now the Oregon Legislature has a chance to do the
right thing, and let these people go.”
The Greater Idaho movement began putting votes to counties in 2020 and
seeks to move the Oregon/Idaho border westward so that the traditionally
conservative eastern counties would join the state of Idaho, which the
movement says better matches eastern Oregonian values. So far, 13
counties have passed their measures. The group believes that moving the
border would create a win-win situation for both Oregon and Idaho by
better matching voters to state governance and would lower political
tension across the state. State lines can be moved through a process
called an insterstate compact. In January, bills were introduced in the
Indiana and Iowa state legislatures seeking similar border change
investigations. Border changes require the approval of both states’
legislatures, as well as the US Congress. In 2023 the Idaho house
passed a Memorial resolution inviting the state of Oregon to begin
border talks, and the Governor of Idaho has publicly supported border
talks as well. The movement has previously reached out to the Governor
of Oregon, as well as President Trump asking for support in getting
border talks between the two states started.
Text of HB 3844 can be found at
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB3488