An eastern Oregon lawmaker wants to create a state task force to explore shifting central and eastern Oregon to Idaho.
State Rep. Mark Owens, a Republican from Crane who represents Malheur County on Tuesday, Feb. 4, introduced House Bill 3438, establishing the Move Oregon-Idaho Border Task Force to make recommendations on advancing the Greater Idaho cause.
Other chief sponsors are state Reps. Bobby Levy, R-Echo and Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville.
“I still haven’t given up on Oregon, and my top priority is making it a place where all communities can thrive,” Owens said in an emailed newsletter. “It’s clear the majority of voters in House District 60 want the conversation about moving to Idaho to continue. This is why I am sponsoring this bill – to ensure our communities have the information they need to understand what this movement would entail, including its potential benefits and challenges.”
Owens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The legislation would form a study group but doesn’t specify the size but mandates representation from among the county governments of the 13 counties where voters have mandated special meetings to discuss redrawing the Oregon-Idaho border. Malheur County is among those counties. According to the legislation, the Association of Oregon Counties would appoint those members. Other members of the task force would be selected from across the state, representing ranching, agriculture, small business and the timber industries, along with members of tribal governments. Gov. Tina Kotek or her designee would chair the task force.
The task force would meet monthly, beginning in January 2026, and gather public comments, according to the legislation. The task force report would be due to the Legislature in 2027.
Malheur County Commissioner Ron Jacobs supports the legislation. The Malheur County Court held one of its mandatory meetings on the border change idea on Monday, Jan. 13. The commissioners didn’t act on Owens’ idea but instead asked the supporters to draft a letter for the court’s consideration.
Republican frustration in rural parts of the state with the liberal policies of the state’s more heavily populated west side has driven the Greater Idaho cause. Supporters of the Greater Idaho movement contend the region has more in common with Idaho, a predominantly conservative state.
To legally move the border, state legislatures in Oregon and Idaho have to approve the shift, followed by approval in Congress.
The bill charges the study group with analyzing the details of such a border move, including policy differences between the two states, including sales tax, minimum wage, school funding, abortion rights, marijuana and land use laws.
Owens’ bill is the second piece of legislation that has been introduced at the State Legislature.
State Sen. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, introduced a measure Senate Joint Memorial 7 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.”
Jacobs underscored the sentiment behind Bonham’s measure that those in eastern Oregon are not represented in Salem.
“We’re outnumbered so much by the Democrats,” he said.
In 2023, the Idaho Legislature voted to adopt House Joint Memorial 1, which “resolves that the Idaho Legislature stands ready to begin discussions with the Oregon Legislature regarding the potential to relocate the Oregon/Idaho state boundary.”
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