Those people Our kids today Is Matt McCaw Is currently the spokesperson for the Greater Idaho movements That macaw is the born and raised Oregonian who has lived and worked on Both sides of the state The greater Idaho movement is to move Oregon's border That and his wife are small business Owners and foster parents who are Raising a family in town huge Please join me in welcoming Matt McCall Well thank you Angie can you guys hear Me okay Yes okay awesome uh well thanks for Having me and giving me this opportunity To talk to you guys so as Angie said Um my name my name is Matt McCaw uh I Live in pal Butte Oregon which is uh Just east side of the Cascades it's Right in the middle of the state and uh I've been involved with uh move Oregon's Border or citizens for greater Idaho for A little over two years I've been doing All the spokesman duties for the Movement for the last year Um so it's uh I'll give you just a real brief I kind Of talked Yale earlier about Um what you guys are hoping to hear and I'll just give you a brief background Around what we are how we got started

Where we're headed and how this might Apply To people across the country Um and and if Yale or anybody wants to Stop me and you know say time out we we Have a question we want to ask about Something please feel free to jump in do That and that can kind of help you're Also Um so what is move Oregon's border how Did it start so the state of Oregon is Like a lot of States across the country Um we have an era that's very left Leaning and has a very specific culture That's very different Date Um so in Oregon specifically that's the Portland metro area so so the Portland Metro area has about 2 million people in A state of four million people so about Half the population of our state lives In this one big city got its own Culture that's very different than In Oregon we've had this Urban rural Divide for a very long time and it's Been a problem because the west side of The state is so much more populated than The east side of the state that they Dominate state level government and and So we've had Democratic governors in Oregon for 40 years and we used to have More of a divided State Legislature but Over the last 20 years or so uh as Populations have changed you know

Population growth has changed we went to Mail-in ballots Statewide in Oregon 20 Some 30 years ago Um what those two factors have changed Oregon from a state that was reliably Had a democratic government uh governor And then a split Republican house or Republican Senate it's gone into we're In a democratic super majority status Basically they own all three chambers The Senate the house the uh governorship And and they own those pretty lopsidedly So as in a lot of places it causes Massive political tension uh the west Side of the state Dictates policy to the rest of the state And and it's Seated the eastern part of the state the Rural part of the state doesn't want Doesn't make sense for our communities Is not what we're voting for and it's Getting forced on us so this is a Long-standing problem It's been around I was born in eastern Or I was born in Western Oregon raised In eastern Oregon lived in and worked in Western Oregon and now I'm in eastern Oregon uh this problem has been there For a very very long time so we have Function that that always seems to get Pushed is oh well we'll pay attention to You next election cycle just keep Electing us and listen to the rural Areas and we'll give you a seat at the

Table and we'll address your your Concerns Nothing happens so in 2019 a group of Eastern oregonians and Southern Oregonians got together and it was just A small group they met in a pizza shop Uh pizza parlor and and they said how Could we fix this Urban rural divide in In this political tension Is there a solution that that we could Do and what they decided and what they Came up with was what if We've moved the border from where it Currently is uh between Idaho and Oregon And moved it westwards Cascade mountain Range which is where the geographic Organ and it's where the cultural divide Is also so the west side of Oregon is Green uh Urban uh meaning you get to the East side of Oregon Rural High Desert Um This imaginary line which is this the State line that was placed between Idaho And Oregon which was put there 164 years Ago in a time when the state of Oregon The entire state only had less than 50 000 people lived in the state so that's When they decided to put the state line Where it is with Idaho what if we took That state line we updated it and we put It where the actual cultural developed Divide in our state allowed Eastern Oregonians who are overwhelmingly Conservative to get state level

Government from Idaho which is also Overwhelmingly conservative and leave Western Oregon which is very Left-leaning would remain Oregon and get The government they want so uh that was Our idea our idea was all about Self-determination we should be trying To match people to the government that They want that matches their values as Much as possible and using a state line Relocation could do that could solve This long-standing Urban rural divide in Oregon lower political tension and get Everybody the kind of government that They want so The process of moving state lines so This is something that our our biggest Thing when we have this idea let's move The government that they actually won The biggest uh hurdle that we have Then Um for most of us Our states have always looked exactly The way they look right now there have Not been major line State Line border Changes in the United States in a very Long time and so most people don't even Realize that that's something it is a Tool that we could be using to solve Problems Um so We had a lot of educating to do in 2019 And but our strategy as a movement was Let's go county by county and ask voters

Directly so in Oregon we have a ballot Measure process where any citizen can Start a petition to get something on the Ballot and they have to collect enough Signatures that you know they come up With a question that they want to go on The ballot they can collect enough Signatures in their community and if They get enough signatures of registered Voters they can get it on the ballot so That was our approach that we we chose To take we think this is a great idea And we know it's possible we know There's a legal Pathway to change state Lines and we know that there's Precedence to change state lines we Think this is a great idea Let's see if other people agree so in in 2020 we started going county by county In eastern Oregon Orders directly Do you want your elected leaders to Pursue moving the Border and we started Doing that into in the presidential Election in 2020 was our first set of Elections and we won two counties and we Lost two counties we were brand new uh Nobody knew who we were nobody knew what We were trying to do people didn't Really understand very well what we were Trying to do because we're a citizen We're a Grassroots organization we're Just a bunch of people in the State Trying to solve a problem

Um I do we lost two elections we won two Elections since then we've been moving Forward holding elections and in eastern Oregon we're now up to 11 counties in Eastern Oregon have passed our ballot Measures so so we're trying to move 15 Full counties From Oregon into Idaho governance and 11 Of those 15 counties in eastern Oregon Have on our elected leaders to look into Making uh this happen So we have a 12th County that's going to Be voting on it uh in in May which would You know we we are expecting to do well There what we're people love this idea It people understand Across America Across Oregon But we know that Urban culture is very Different than rural culture and and Those two cultures are getting further And further apart all the time and and One either of those cultures trying to Force policy on the others is is causing A a lot of friction and a lot of Problems Um so when we offer up our solution Let's use border relocation to group Similarly minded people and get them Government that actually matches their Values what we're seeing is that voters Are saying yes we want that we want the Leaders to look into that so we've got 11 out of 15 counties in eastern Oregon A 12th is voting a 13th which is

Actually the county I live in is going To be voting on it not in this may Election but the in the election after That Um so people in eastern Oregon are Overwhelmingly supportive of this idea So Just take a quick little detour And and explain the cross moving estate Line so I said that that state lines can Be moved and they can't they're an Imaginary line they were placed there as A tool to group similar peoples together Have been moved multiple times Throughout the history of the United States and they even are still being Moved Currently so Oregon and Washington Adjusted their Border in 1958 which is Not that long ago you know all things Considered and and it was along the Columbia River and there was some Question as to where exactly the Border Was because Rivers change courses and And all you know Islands who's got Jurisdiction over this so the process For any two states to move their border Is for the two state legislatures to Come together and drop something called An interstate compact which is Essentially a contract that says Legislator ledgers don't think where the Border currently is is working and is Making sense we think it would make more

Sense to put it here Just agree on that and they dropped the Contract they say the line is going to Move from here to here and and the the Governance for these areas are going to Change from here to here and here's any Grandfathering in of what we need to do And here's any assets that need to Change hands they dropped this contract If the two-state legislatures agree it Goes to the U.S Congress and if U.S Congress says yeah it's done which is Governance changes for those people that Are involved so I mentioned in 1950 E that process the two State Legislatures met they decided that they Needed to firm up and decide exactly Where the Border went uh on on Washington's Southern Border in Oregon's Northern border So they wrote up the interstate compact Passbook or both States legislatures Went to Congress they signed off on it Boom So that is the process so so We kind of see it as a pyramid our goal Is to get people in nature overwhelming They can 75 Republican they're represented by a Republican Congressman Um they're very very conservative in in Oregon on almost every issue our goal is To get those counties moved into Idaho State governance and and so we have been

Spending the last three years proving That there's popular support for I for Our idea and there is the people in Eastern Oregon want this to happen Likewise in Idaho Trafalgar group did Some polls in 21 and they asked do you Want Or would you be okay with absorbing These 15 Eastern Oregon counties if you Knew that they vote similarly to you and That they would not be an economic drain On your state and respondents responded Over two to one positively that said yes If we could bring in like-minded people That vote the way we do and and you know Make the same amount of money and would Contribute positively to our state yes We want to take so there's a lot of Popular support in the state of Idaho There was also polling done in 2022 by Survey USA another National polling uh Opera Northwestern Oregon and and so that's The the populated part of the state Willamette Valley the Willamette Valley And Portland metro area are about three Quarters of the state's population so They they pulled just people in the Northwest part of the state of Oregon And they asked people should have Oregon Look at changing the border and what That would mean for for everybody Involved 68 of respondents in Northwest Oregon said yes we should have this

Conversation uh and so what that shows Us is that people your everyday average Citizen understands that City Life City Culture Urban culture is different than Rural culture and it doesn't make any Sense for either of those two cultures To trying to be to try to be forcing Policy on each other dictating policy to Each other the people understand that What makes sense for Portland doesn't Make sense for Eastern Oregon and vice Versa and that it we should look at how Do we get those people government that They actually want that makes sense for Them Um so there's lots of popular support For our idea in Oregon and in Idaho so Knowing that Now it becomes strictly a matter of Political will if the elected leaders in The state of Oregon and I happen The political will is there for it to Happen so to that end our next step in The process Level and we began that this year so so You may have heard about us we got a lot Of attention this year because we've Actually gone from the You know this is a good idea phase to The legislative we're we're making Happen phase so the way we are going About this is we had a memorial And we invited the Oregon legislature to Begin talks about where to move the

Border So the Idaho house passed that measure Passed it very handily it moved to the Senate uh we had a lot of support for it In the Senate and and we had the votes To do it in the Senate on the Idaho side We had a similar measure that was Introduced on the Oregon side that is Sitting in the Oregon Senate so the Oregon Senate is heavily weighted Towards Democrats uh they are the party In charge and the Senate President in The uh Senate uh Chair in the committee that our Memorial Landed in basically came out in early in The session and said we're not touching This this session uh we're not going to Look at this right now so because of That we stalled out a little bit in Idaho but we passed our Memorial passed In the state of Idaho Idaho legislators Understand why this makes sense for Idaho and their constituents they are Supportive they're ready to move this Forward We're at the stage knocking on educating Oregon Building the the support amongst people And and getting those legislators to get On board to move that Memorial forward In in the Oregon legislature so at the Legislative level if these memorials Move forward that the house and the Senate passed them that allows the two

States to start talking to each other And once they start talking to each Other they have hearings they can they Can you know form committees do those Things and start talking about where it Actually makes sense to move the Border Um so so that's where we're at currently The Idaho uh legislative session uh Unfortunately is over it ended in Um so our bill never they never brought It up they said well if Oregon is not Going to do this there's no need for us To kind of move forward at this point Um the Oregon legislature goes until the End of June so we will continue to be Asking for hearings and meeting with Legislators and tell you that our Movement you know the thing I get is Almost invariably so I'm the Spokesperson I go around Eastern Oregon And I talk to people all the time about This and and almost everybody has the Same response to say man that would be Awesome that makes so much sense that Would be awesome is that possible could Really happen Um and and what people need to Understand is it absolutely can That that has precedence and a pathway To happen Um and and we believe that as soon as we Get enough popular sport and and enough Elected leaders in place we can make it Happen and it makes sense for it to

Happen um not only for Oregon but also For other places across the U.S there's This um there's a term that was coined Uh uh and I want to give credit to to Who coined it um so I don't know if Anybody's familiar with Tom Woods he's a Commentator and uh has a podcast and I Was on his show and and he he called it This status quo bias that that People Are so used to the way things have been There's they're so accustomed to this Idea that you know the state of Oregon Looks like this the state of There's this status quo bias they don't Think that it can change once we break That break through that and get people To understand it can change not only can It change it should change in a Situation like like this where you have A group of people completely mismatched To the government that they've got That's causing all sorts of tension Let's use straight border relocation as A tool to group more similar minded People together and lower political Attention in Oregon and elsewhere So that's kind of the nuts and bolts of My my presentation but I would uh you Know I'd love to open it up it's it's a Big topic it's a complicated topic Um so I'd love to open up for questions Or Gail or Angie if you have something That you want me to speak on I'd be

Happy to do that Okay Steve do you have a question well I Just have a suggestion uh Eastern Colorado is totally different I'm sorry Can you hear Steve yep I can yeah Western Colorado has a completely Different culture than the Front Range Of Colorado and then other years ago uh The panhandle of Nebraska wanted to join The state of Wyoming so these are two Entities that I know would be very Interested in what you're doing so my Question is how many total counties in The state of Oregon Oh so Steve Steve I'm sorry you cut out Right at the how many total counties Yeah in Oregon So so in in Oregon we're looking at Moving 15 full counties and and we could Add partial counties so again you know People need to understand A border is an imaginary line it can go Wherever it makes sense to go so our Proposal in in Oregon is to take 15 full Counties that are all very conservative They vote overwhelmingly conservative Um and and move those 15 full counties Now we could also put that line wherever It makes sense to to grab communities That are also conservative that want to Get their state government from the State of Idaho so there's about three Counties in in eastern Oregon that Um you can draw the line that would

Divide those counties in half Now that may be problematic that may be More complicated than taking a full County but you can you can put a line It's an imaginary line Put it where it's Um and and so we've our proposal on our Map is it goes pretty much down It's cut around a couple of key areas One is is a Warm Springs Indian Reservation and and we did that because If you look at the way the boat It does not appear to us or anybody else That they would want to be part of Idaho And then it also Cuts around the city of Bend so so there's one big urban area in Eastern Oregon That is the city of Bend it's where I Grew up uh it was a small town when I Was growing up but over the last 25 30 Years it's exploded it's a hundred Thousand people now and as it's gotten More urban as often happens it's gotten More left leaning uh we do not think That that the folks in Bend would want To be part of Idaho they're happy with Their governance from the state of Oregon so our border our proposal simply Carves around them Um we want to be matching people to Government that they want as much as Possible not dragging people who don't Want to be part of it in or or forcing Anybody into something they don't want

What is the total number of counties in Oregon that was important total number Of counties yeah so there's 36 counties In Oregon and our initial proposal when We started this and I was actually part Of the movement at that point but when We started this proposal we looked at The way people voted and we said Southern Oregon votes very Conservatively so so I I should have you Know kind of laid this out there I Assume most people know this but the State of Idaho is is one of the most Conservative states in the country it's It's the legislature's 80 percent uh Republican it's very very conservative Liberal states in the country as far as That goes so when we started this we Looked at how do counties how do people In these counties vote and Eastern Oregon votes overwhelmingly Conservatively Southern Oregon votes Very very conservatively so our initial Proposal included several Southern Oregon counties as we started the Process of going directly to voters we Have gone to vote in southern Oregon Three times in two different counties And we have lost all three of those Votes So in eastern Oregon we're winning our Ballot measures win and they win with About 61 62 percent is our average Passing rate in southern Oregon we've

Gone over three over there and and what That told us was even though those folks In southern Oregon vote conservatively They're not A state level governance for whatever Reason different you know it's a Different enough culture than Eastern Oregon the people in southern Oregon are Would rather stay in this state of Oregon state level governance they're Not ready to have that conversation so We dropped them out of our proposal Again it's an imaginary line can go Wherever it makes sense for it to go We're only moving forward with these 15 Eastern Oregon counties and potentially Partial of Three Counties Hmm Barbara do you have a tent can you show Us your tentative map of what's the most Possible the map showing what foreign Sure so I don't know if you guys can Share my screen Is that possible do you have that slide Available Yeah I've got it up on my screen right Now if you just I'm gonna have to make Your host hold on okay and I'll let me Work this out Yeah yeah uh uh yeah so it's Interestingly enough it's about Right Eastern Oregon is from Western Oregon Eastern Oregon we're talking About moving about 63 of the land mass

Of Eastern Oregon it's only 400 000 People So state of Oregon's four million people So we're moving nine percent of the People with 63 of the lame mess and and People ask all the time you know About whether this makes sense across The country and I and I think there's There's likely places like you were Talking about Colorado we've heard Rumblings from like Western Colorado Counties want to be part of you know Maybe Wyoming or whatever Um we've had people contact us from uh New York and say how can we you know What are you doing would this make sense For for a place like New York where the Upstate New York is very conservative But they get completely dominated by New York City Um so so this might make sense in lots Of places but when you see this map that That uh Yale's working on getting up for You you'll see just how much it makes Sense for the state of Oregon it's such A vast difference between Western Oregon And Eastern Oregon in almost every way And and what ends up happening and part Of the reason we get this political Tension is that I'm gonna Close that real quick let me know when When you're ready for that map yo you Can hit you no it's ready now go ahead Okay let me see here all right can you

Guys see that map No all right let me try one more thing Yeah go ahead can you see it now [Music] No no no no Let me go back thank you enough sharing Power Okay I have sharing power okay Yeah okay I've got sharing power now the Trick is Oh Figure out how to do it I don't get I don't get sharing power so I need to uh you have shared work do you See where on the bottom here we go for Your screen Your screen share your screen yeah Okay let me see Okay now can you guys see it yep Okay you got it now yes okay so this All right Wow okay so this map shows you what our Proposal is so so the normal border Between in or Oregon is along the Snake River uh right there kind of underneath The Uh where you can see that the border is Now between Idaho and Oregon so we're Proposing moving that Westward all the Way to the Cascade except where you can Kind of see the western edge of that Border it carves around the Warm Springs Indian Reservation Be governed by Idaho and cars around the

City of bent Um so Eastern Oregon is a vast amount is Very sparsely populated Um and and it's again it's Geographically similar to Idaho it's Economically similar to Idaho so Eastern Oregon is very agricultural Um A lot of the the economy is agricultural Based it's not nearly as wealthy as the West side of Oregon but it's very Comparable to the state of Idaho so in This case you could move 400 000 people And all this land into the state of Idaho and it would not be it it wouldn't Make a huge economic difference it would Be a small benefit to the state of Idaho From adding all these people but it Wouldn't be a big economic drain it Wouldn't be you know this huge economic You know Boon because the economics of Eastern Oregon and Idaho are almost Exactly the same but but it what it Would do is that Western Oregon is quite A bit wealthier than Eastern Oregon so Letting Eastern Oregon go to get part of Their governance from the state of Idaho Would actually allow Western Oregon to Keep far more of their tax dollars in Western Oregon and not have to be Sending those to Eastern Oregon so our Proposal in the state of Oregon is it Really is a win-win for almost everybody Involved it gets Eastern oregonians the

Government that they want it gets Western oregonians Um more of their tax dollars staying at Home more government that they want that That they would have than super Majorities where they could pass the Legislation that they think that they Need and they want for for their Communities Um and and it would also be a benefit to Idaho Not only would it be economic Benefit to Idaho But Idaho is a very conservative State And the people of Idaho and the Legislators in Idaho are very concerned About staying a very conservative State And so bringing 400 000 like-minded People into the state of Idaho would Help make sure that Idaho stays Idaho For a very long time moving forward so We think our idea Is a win-win for everybody involved and Like I mentioned earlier when you Actually ask people They tend to agree with us so the next Step for us is getting elected leaders To get on board and to that end I can Tell you I'm going to stop sharing now And go back to just my me if that's okay Yep I can tell you when I started this Two years ago we had Essentially one elected leader in the City of Idaho that was on board with us That that she so representative ehart

Who's a representative in Idaho she Heard our idea and she said man this Makes a ton of sense and she saw how it Made sense and she saw the value in it Right away but it has been a long slog To get more elective leaders on board And and what we had to prove was we had To prove that there was this popular Support there that people want this not Only do we have to educate and say it Show how this makes sense for people Economically and voting wise and and Just you know lowering political tension We had to show that there was popular Support as well as we've been doing that As we've added more counties as we've Had these polls that have come out we're Getting more and more elected leaders on Board all the time You know we've shown in the Idaho house We passed the Idaho house we had the Votes in the Idaho Senate Um more and more elected leaders are Coming on board all the time this is Getting closer and closer to being a Reality Um every every day and every vote that Happens So so Matt I have a question I have Several questions I know others do but Um obviously this is this is so contrary To the way things generally operate uh You know the legislature tells us what What they're going to do and they kind

Of sell it to us they educate us right This is reversed Um and and I know that's part of the Problem uh in terms of our folks getting To understand Americans getting to Understand that they have this power Um what kind of response are you getting From legislators whether it's Oregon or Idaho in terms of changing the Paradigm On how things are really supposed to Operate are they are they liking it or Do they see it as a power grab uh you Know power plays such a key role in this Where is the element of power Yeah so that's a great question yeah so So we believe and I think about you guys Probably this is how government's Supposed to work the people want Something their elected leaders hear That they solve problems Um in a way that their their Constituents want to to have those Problems solved Um we we don't always see that play out In in the politics that we have you know There's the politics we wish we had and Then there's the policies in government That we get Um so that issue of power is huge People General citizens when you ask Them in polling when you ask them at The Ballot Box do you want to solve these Problems do you think this is a solution That would work yes people do in Idaho

We have it's been very easy to convince Legislators how this is positive for Idaho helps them economically helps them Politically Um you know it gives them more more Power more more Level not not a huge amount because We're not talking about a lot of people But it increases their footprinting Economic power it's easy it's an easy Sell for Idaho we've had more difficulty In the state of Oregon Primarily because we have a legislature That's dominated by one political party Who is not interested in Um letting us go Get our governance from somewhere else And so Um we've had a harder time making in Roads that In order to make this happen this is a Political process so in order for this To happen we're going to have to get the Two states politically to make it happen Um and so Idaho has shown a lot of Willingness to to start the conversation And be part of this in the state of Oregon we're having a much harder time And and it's because we're going up Against a physician party and and we're Having to convince them that yes you Would lose 400 000 people but here's all the Reasons why a it's the moral right thing

To do B is economically makes sense you Know C uh it would be better for your Constituents as well so um You know that is the challenge and that Is where we're at but but it's important For people to understand that that is That is that is what has to change all Of this is doable people don't think These sorts of things First of all there is a legal pathway There is a legal precedence it's all a Matter of political will so as people We've got to let our elected leaders Know we want this to happen we want you To take action we want you to move this Forward and and that's what I was Talking about earlier when I started This two years ago we didn't have any Elected leaders who wanted to touch us You know they were like that's You know we're not going to stick our Neck out on any of this stuff this Sounds kind of crazy as they've seen Though that the people want this to Happen people in eastern Oregon people In Idaho even the people in Western Oregon it's it's given to step out in Favor of us and say yes we do think this Is a good idea and more importantly this Is what the people want so that's the Challenge getting us as Citizens as Grassroots folks to get that pressure on Our like make our case to our elected we Know that we expect our elected leaders

To move forward our wishes uh on this Issue Affect rational Sleeve or yeah Good good question so again one of the Reasons why this proposal makes so much Sense is is not only do you have this Contiguous land mass of people that are Culturally similar to a neighbor and and Completely dissimilar to the people that They're actually grouped with but we're Not talking about a ton of Um people or national political power Structure uh you know disruption so so By that I mean the people in eastern Oregon right now these 15 counties we're Talking about they're represented by one Uh representative U.S representative and That's um Cliff band Because each organ is incredibly Conservative so that one Representing Oregon which currently has Six Representatives two representing Idaho So on the national Scene It would change One electoral vote from Oregon which is Essentially very reliably blue to Idaho Which is very reliably red uh and that's It and that's the only impact that would Have on the national level so a lot of Times people say oh you'll never get Congress you'll never get the US Congress to sign up even if Oregon to Agree you'll never get your Congress to

Sign off we don't agree historically Interstate compacts have been approved By the U.S Congress uh any reason if two States say this is what states and and There's very little National impact it Make a lot of sense for U.S Congress to Say no especially in this case if a red State and a blue State came together and Said We think moving the Border would make Sense for everybody involved we don't See any reason why the U.S Congress Would say no Whatever the party whatever their party Each each legislator has fought for the Seat and he spent money and he's camping But they're gonna they have they must Really not tell to realize that they had The same constituency will just be in a Different state they could probably be Re-elected as an Idaho representative or Senator see what I mean I mean I don't Think that if the same thought for their Seats that's why I think the legislators In the state Or I can say it would be sort of against It you know they don't want to ruffle The water but I think it's they realize They're going to have their same Constituency they'll just have a Different name tag so to speak and I Don't think that's a big issue and not If it's the national issue doesn't seem To make any difference at all I mean as

Far as how the vote would go so but they Have to understand they've got so much Invested in where they sit in the Oregon Legislature there's so much investment If they understand it's not going to Hurt them And And I I think you are right about that I I think that you know one of the things That we bump into is that People get very worried about funding And they get very worried about where Their dollars are coming from and so The state Oregon is sending a lot of Dollars to their communities then they Don't want to do anything to upset Now that becomes a hindrance Um but but we try to make that case Absolutely for representatives and Elected leaders in eastern Oregon they Would go from being a political minority With zero voice you know well I should Say very little voice zero political Power so the Republican Party in the State of Oregon is has zero power to do Anything in fact you may have read a few Years ago the only way they get anything Done is if they leave the state so that That was a that was their you know their Only way to stop stuff because we're Such a political minority is we had to Just leave the state and and then the The Democratic majority changed some Rules to say you couldn't do that

Anymore so there's no political power For any kind of conservative elected Leader in this state switching to Idaho You'd go from being a representative or A senator that has no political power And very little voice to be in a Majority a super majority situation the Other way all of a sudden you become Part of this majority all those issues All those things that are important to You that have been ignored last 30 years All of a sudden you have a seat at the Table with like-minded individual If the same values and the same Um want to solve the same problems in The same way that you do Um Matt A question about Portland Um Was there did I interrupt someone Yeah He has questions okay go ahead go ahead Yeah I don't know if I'm right on this But I always feel like the Um majority likes to kind of take Advantage of the minority and their Skills and traits I don't know how for Instance if they're in agriculture they Want to reap the tax benefits or maybe Some water rights things like this Yeah is that going on in Oregon are they How would you relinquish that grasp it Is Yeah so so you know that's a great

Question and I I'm not sure that I can Speak for as somebody who's not in that Political party and and I'm not a Northwestern Oregonian anymore Um I'm not sure I can speak to that what I Can say is that The Eastern Oregon is an economic drain On Western Oregon because the Agricultural rural communities are not As wealthy as the Willamette Valley and And the Portland metro area so in Oregon We have a state income tax we have no Sales tax so all techno gets collected Across the state based on how much money You make and then that gets divvied back Out so in in this specific case of Oregon I don't think it's a financial Reason they want to hold on to Eastern Oregon I I think it probably goes to Other things you know um And again I'm not sure I can necessarily Speak that I can tell you that what I Hear the most of people in opposition is Simply what I refer to that status quo Bias this is my Oregon and this is what It's always looked like and I'm not Gonna I'm not gonna give that away to Idaho that's the kind of thing I hear And even though you know Another reason why our solution makes so Much sense is Eastern Oregon is almost Zero uh state-owned land Eastern Oregon Is 50 about 50 privately owned uh you

Know branches Farms people that own Their own land about 25 BLM the other 25 U.S forest Service so the state of Oregon owns almost none of that land Anyways it's either federally owned or Private land we're just talking about Switching governance but people in their Mind they kind of get stuck on this that Belongs again Um instead of thinking of it as well That but they they don't own it so As I know that's not a very good answer But I I really You know I I don't know This idea makes sense to to most people You talk to I'm not sure why those that it doesn't Uh what their Hang-Ups are Spoils or map puzzles Marianne has request another one Is this going on in Washington state Also because it seems to me it's a Similar situation I mean I've never been To any of your States but Am I Wrong is there anything going on There Yeah so again great question when we First started our Movement we included Southeast Washington because Washington Is in the exact same position that Oregon is Divided culturally geographically by the Cascade mountain range the west side of Washington is dominated by King County

Seattle that's where almost all the Population is very left leaning Um and there's such a population Mismatch that it dominates State Politics Eastern Washington is just like Eastern Oregon much more rural very Conservative Um and they get steamrolled on Everything at the state government level Because of the west side of Washington Once we decided to just focus on Eastern Oregon counties we kind of made this Decision that this was going to be a big Enough challenge just to get this one State moved into part of another state So we've kind of all other Northern California there's been some discussion About Northern California same thing Conservative people that are dominated By by the coastal you know uh politics At the state government level We've decided we're just going to focus On getting these 15 counties first and And once that has successful and I do Believe we're going to be successful I Believe as our cultures drift further Apart as our politics gets more partisan And more uh you know there's more Tension all the time people are looking For Solutions people don't want this People don't want to to have you know be Angry with their fellows and their Neighbors they want to live they want to Let live they want to live their lives

Raise their kids go Um they don't want to be having these Political fights all the time I do Believe that we're going to be Successful long term and once that Happens I think it's going to open up The floodgates for other areas in the Country to say okay where does it make Sense now that we've seen that our Country can use border relocation to Solve problems match people together Where else might that make sense Resources I didn't look too closely at The map are you proposing them in the Border to the top of the Watershed for The Cascades or the base of the Mountains that will be something again Great question that'll be something that The two-state legislatures will Negotiate so water rights is Um which you know I'm sure you guys do Anywhere rural in the on in the West Water is an issue so in eastern Oregon There is a lot of water issues in in one Of the Um one of the pieces of that is is going To be Um where that water What The two state legislatures will agree You know our proposal kind of we didn't Based on that we just said it makes Sense looking at you know where counties Are and where people are to put the line

There but but this is part of like you Know the the beauty of this process is That this is not going to be just Matt Mccaw's idea of where the Border goes This is going to be the two State Legislatures coming together and and Being able to sit down and say where Does it make sense where does it make Sense that's going to be best for Everybody involved and and there can be Some some give and take on that and There can be some negotiation on that And and figure out what does make sense You know Western Oregon is not short on Water so I don't know You know is going to put up a big sting You know losing the Eastern you know Half of the Cascades watersheds Um they have plenty of water on the West Side that's an issue that's more of a Problem out here in eastern Oregon Ask for the West slope too Yeah we'll take all the way to I-5 yeah Right Well that was terrific thank you so much Yeah We appreciate You we know that we have an idea that Makes a ton of sense that people you Know Are supportive of so so we appreciate All the support that you guys can give Us and you know like anytime we can get The word out and get more people

Thinking about this and more people Understand political solution that we Can do that would make sense Um it's going to be better for everybody Yes I appreciate it Great and if you have any questions or Whatever Yale has my email and You shoot them over I'm happy to answer Them Okay terrific All right thank you yeah Okay All right