In their first Oregon-Idaho border change meeting since a November election on the issue, the Malheur County commissioners were asked to send a letter of support for legislation that could advance the Greater Idaho cause.
Commissioners didn’t take formal action at the Jan. 13 meeting, with County Judge Dan Joyce instead asking the border move proponents to draft a letter and submit it for the court’s consideration.
At issue is a bill that would have Oregon lawmakers create a committee to meet with the Idaho Legislature to explore shifting central and eastern Oregon to Idaho.
The court’s Jan. 13 meeting was the first since the November election, when county voters reaffirmed their support for the county holding several meetings a year to discuss an Oregon border shift.
Driving the border change push is conservative dissatisfaction in rural parts of the state with the liberal policies of the state’s more heavily populated west side. Supporters of the Greater Idaho movement contend the region has more in common with Idaho, a predominantly Republican state.
Malheur County is among 13 counties that have voted for such special meetings but has yet to make a formal request to the Oregon Legislature to act on the border move.
At the meeting, proponents asked county commissioners to write a letter in support of having the Oregon Legislature “seriously” consider forming a committee to meet with the Idaho Legislature to discuss the merits of redrawing Oregon’s border.
“Once again, we ask the commissioners to consider supporting what the people of Malheur County have asked for,” said Bob Wheatley, the Malheur County representative of Greater Idaho.
State Sen. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, introduced a measure for the 2025 Oregon Legislature that declares to Idaho officials that legislators “stand ready to begin discussions regarding the potential to relocate the Oregon/Idaho border and we invite the Idaho Legislature, the governor of Idaho and the governor of Oregon to begin talks.”
READ IT: Proposed Senate measure
The Legislature “does not wish to retain by force communities that wish to separate themselves from Oregon.”
“Many eastern Oregonians have begun to see Oregon government as a threat to the livelihoods, liberties and value of their communities,” the measure said.
According to the measure, people in eastern Oregon have an average per capita income lower than their northwestern counterparts but similar to Idaho’s. The measure notes that people on the east side of the state would be “better” suited to contribute to the Idaho state budget than Oregon’s, where eastern Oregonians receive more than they contribute.
Without central and eastern Oregon, the state assembly in Oregon would be able to focus “entirely on the needs of western Oregon and would become more politically homogenous.”
Wheatley, who spoke first during the hour-long meeting, presented the county commissioners with an electoral map from the November 2024 election detailing the sea of red and a small concentration of densely populated blue districts, primarily on the state’s western side.
“The counties that are marked in blue are the counties that voted Democratic,” he said. “And we know how it carried.”
Wheatley pointed out that measures in Malheur, Baker and Lake counties that were designed to eliminate or alter the special meetings all failed. In Malheur County, Wheatley noted, 54% of voters chose to have county elected officials continue to meet to carry on the discussions.
Wheatley said Greater Idaho didn’t campaign against the measures.
“Yet, the people of Malheur County are still saying they want this looked at and want it talked about,” Wheatley said.
Wheatley said he would have liked to have spoken to those who supported the measure to end the meetings in Malheur County. He said proponents and opponents of the border move have much in common.
To legally move the border, state legislatures in Oregon and Idaho have to approve the shift, followed by approval in Congress.
Wheatley said moving the border would be easier than changing the state legislature.
Wheatley said that Portland, cities in the Willamette Valley and Eugene make up the majority of the population. He told the commissioners that those counties would continue to pass legislation “they deem meets their agenda” despite what the rest of the state wants, Wheatley said.
In response to Joyce’s request for a support letter draft, Wheatley said he could provide a letter similar to what the other counties had submitted.
Crook County commissioners issued such a letter in August, noting that nearly 54% of voters in Crook County passed a measure that supports efforts to incorporate their county into Idaho.
“Our citizens encourage continued discussions with our Idahoan neighbors regarding the possibility of a westward relocation of the Oregon-Idaho border, potentially resulting in all or a portion of the territory of Crook County, Oregon, becomes a part of the state of Idaho, the letter said. It was sent to two eastern Oregon legislators and signed by Commissioners Seth Crawford, Susan Hermreck and Brian Barney.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story wrongly identified the group pushing to shift Oregon’s border as the Greater Oregon group. It is Greater Idaho. The Enterprise apologizes for the error.
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