SALEM — A second “Greater Idaho” bill was introduced in the Oregon State Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 4, co-sponsored by Eastern Oregon Reps. Bobby Levy and Mark Owens, organizers of the movement to move Oregon’s border announced in a press release.

House Bill 3844 would create a state task force to “document the state and federal legal and legislative processes that must take place to relocate the Oregon and Idaho state boundaries,” according to the bill’s official summary.

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 Legislature passed a similar memorial in 2023.

Wallowa County got on board by a slim majority in 2022, joining 12 other Oregon counties that have passed measures to consider switching states, and is scheduled to hold its fourth public forum on the issue in late February.

House Bill 3844, introduced by Owens, R-Crane, and co-sponsored by Levy, R-Echo, and fellow Reps. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, and Emily McIntire, R-Eagle Point, 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 be tasked with attempting to answer some of the detail questions surrounding 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,” McCaw said. “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.”

The 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,” McCarter said. “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 Idaho, which the movement says better matches eastern Oregonian values. So far, 13 counties have passed measures instructing their county commissioners to hold hearings on the issue.

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 interstate 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 U.S. Congress. In 2023 the Idaho House passed a memorial resolution inviting Oregon to begin border talks, and Idaho Gov. Brad Little has publicly supported talks as well. The movement has previously reached out to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, as well as to President Donald Trump, asking for support in getting border talks between the two states started.

The text of HB 3844 can be found at tinyurl.com/47hrvw62.