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Ringleader of Greater Idaho Movement reveals why Oregon counties want to secede and join the Gem State
The leader of a group of Oregonians who are determined to leave the state has revealed why they want to escape its liberal policies by joining Idaho.
Matt McCaw is the executive director of the movement to shift the border of Oregon 200 miles to the left, which is called The Greater Idaho Movement.
The proposal seeks to move the Oregon border so that 14 counties and several partial counties would fall under Idaho state lines.
McCaw said the movement was created to bridge the growing 'tug of war' in the Pacific Northwestern state.
'The state of Oregon is divided geographically by the Cascade Mountain Range and that geographic divide is also a huge cultural divide,' McCaw told Fox News.
Matt McCaw is the Executive Director of the movement to shift the border of Oregon 200 miles to the left, which is called The Greater Idaho Movement.
The proposal, pictured, seeks to move the Oregon border 200 miles to the west, meaning that 14 counties and several partial counties would fall under Idaho state lines
'So, on the west side of Oregon you have a different climate, it's a different economy, it's a different culture and more urban. It's a very different place than the east side, where there are agricultural people who are very conservative and traditional.'
He continued, 'You have these two very different groups of people in Oregon that try to play tug of war over state government.'
McCaw explains that the movement's plan is to prevent the conflict that has arisen from two distinctly and fundamentally different groups of people.
He suggests that whichever party is in power, currently the Democrats, forces its values and policies on other people - who live hundreds of miles away
Organizers behind the Greater Idaho movement say east Oregonians are being alienated by the state's progressive policies, which they blame for high crime rates.
They claim a move to Idaho would allow residents to take advantage of lower taxation and provide better representation and governance.
McCaw used the example of the COVID-19 pandemic - during which, he said, policies were being forced on unwilling residents of Oregon who didn't want to abide by quarantine regulations or mask mandates.
'During COVID, the state of Oregon was one of the most extreme. They closed businesses across the state, they closed churches across the state, they closed schools, they imposed mask mandates and later vaccine mandates,' McCaw said.
'This was all state policy handed down through the government institutions like the Oregon Health Authority, which made these policies for the entire state.'
Crook County became the latest to approve the 'Greater Idaho Measure' following a vote last Tuesday.
Crook County became the latest to approve the 'Greater Idaho Measure' following a vote last Tuesday
Measure 7-86, as it was known, passed by 53 percent in Crook County in the latest boost to the Greater Idaho campaign.
However, the vote is not legislatively binding and just means residents are in favor of informing state and federal representatives that they support negotiations to annex part of Oregon.
'The voters of eastern Oregon have spoken loudly and clearly about their desire to see border talks move forward,' McCaw previously said.
'With this latest result in Crook County, there's no excuse left for the Legislature and Governor to continue to ignore the people's wishes.
'We call on the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate President to sit down with us and discuss next steps towards changing governance for eastern Oregonians, as well as for the legislature to begin holding hearings on what a potential border change will look like.'
'For the last three years we've been going directly to voters and asking them what they want for their state government,' President Mike McCarter added.
This map outlines the counties that would be incorporated into the state of Idaho if the movement is approved
According to the group's leader, Matt McCaw, the movement was created to bridge the growing 'tug of war' in the Pacific Northwestern state
'What they're telling us through these votes is that they want their leaders to move the border.
'In our system, the people are the ones in charge, and it's time for the leaders representing them to follow through.'
Oregon was plunged into chaos after lawmakers brought in a controversial 2021 law known as Measure 110 which scrapped criminal penalties for drug possession.
Under Measure 110, police handed addicts a ticket imposing a $100 fine that is cancelled if they called a treatment referral hotline and agreed to participate in a health assessment.
The system proved useless — more than 95 per cent of tickets went ignored.
Of 4,000 drug-use citations issued during the first two years of Measure 110, only 40 people phoned the hotline asking about treatment. As a result, it was calculated that each call cost taxpayers $7,000.
The measure was finally reversed by Oregon governor Tina Kotek last month in an embarrassing U-turn.