"Greater Idaho legislation moves forward in Boise as lawmakers OK talks to annex Oregon counties"

"Rep. Greg Lanting (R-Twin Falls) said he asked everyone in his email contact list whether they support the measure. They rejected it “10 to 1,” he said.

In 2020, Idaho voters fixed the number of legislative districts at 35. Adding such a big chunk of land without many people, Lanting said, would greatly increase the geographical size of these districts – some of which already stretch hundreds of miles from one end to the other.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) also pointed out that these sparsely populated areas have high rates of Medicaid enrollment, meaning it could be an added expense to Idaho taxpayers.

“These are very, very low-income counties, folks, and if they join Idaho, they’re about to lose one of their top sources of revenue, which is weed sales to Idahoans,” Rubel said.

She and other Democrats also joked about Greater Idaho’s characterization as political “refugees” that are ignored by lawmakers in Salem."

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/02/olcc-bourbon-scandal-longtime-commission-chair-paul-rosenbaum-resigns.html

TB

Technobarbarian <technobarbarian@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> "Greater Idaho legislation moves forward in Boise as lawmakers OK talks
> to annex Oregon counties"
>
> "Rep. Greg Lanting (R-Twin Falls) said he asked everyone in his email
> contact list whether they support the measure. They rejected it “10 to 1,” he said.
>
> In 2020, Idaho voters fixed the number of legislative districts at 35.
> Adding such a big chunk of land without many people, Lanting said, would
> greatly increase the geographical size of these districts – some of which
> already stretch hundreds of miles from one end to the other.
>
> House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) also pointed out that these
> sparsely populated areas have high rates of Medicaid enrollment, meaning
> it could be an added expense to Idaho taxpayers.
>
> “These are very, very low-income counties, folks, and if they join Idaho,
> they’re about to lose one of their top sources of revenue, which is weed
> sales to Idahoans,” Rubel said.
>
> She and other Democrats also joked about Greater Idaho’s characterization
> as political “refugees” that are ignored by lawmakers in Salem."
>
> https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/02/olcc-bourbon-scandal-longtime-commission-chair-paul-rosenbaum-resigns.html
>
> TB
>

Yawn.

--
“If you love me I will always be in your heart. If you hate me I will
always be in your mind.” - Donald ‘William Shakespeare’ Trump

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:28:56 PM UTC-8, Technobarbarian wrote:
> "Greater Idaho legislation moves forward in Boise as lawmakers OK talks to annex Oregon counties"
>
> "Rep. Greg Lanting (R-Twin Falls) said he asked everyone in his email contact list whether they support the measure. They rejected it “10 to 1,” he said.
>
> In 2020, Idaho voters fixed the number of legislative districts at 35. Adding such a big chunk of land without many people, Lanting said, would greatly increase the geographical size of these districts – some of which already stretch hundreds of miles from one end to the other.
>
> House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) also pointed out that these sparsely populated areas have high rates of Medicaid enrollment, meaning it could be an added expense to Idaho taxpayers.
>
> “These are very, very low-income counties, folks, and if they join Idaho, they’re about to lose one of their top sources of revenue, which is weed sales to Idahoans,” Rubel said.
>
> She and other Democrats also joked about Greater Idaho’s characterization as political “refugees” that are ignored by lawmakers in Salem."
>
> https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/02/olcc-bourbon-scandal-longtime-commission-chair-paul-rosenbaum-resigns.html
>
> TB

Here are some more fun numbers that illustrate how ridiculous this idea is.

"The May 17 losses caused leaders to issue the “less ambitious” map as part of what they called “phase 1″ of their project. The reduced scope includes only 14 counties representing around 386,000 Oregonians, a little more than a third of the original map’s 900,000 in population. According to backers, the area outlines 64% of Oregon’s landmass but just 9% of its population."

https://www.opb.org/article/2022/05/23/greater-idaho-movement-scales-back-plan-for-oregon-annexation/

It gets even more ridiculous when you consider the fact that most of those 386,000 people don't even own the land they're standing on. The vast majority of it is owned by various branches of the government and big corporations.

https://projects.oregonlive.com/maps/land-ownership/index.php

Anyone who wants to live in Idaho has a much easier and quicker solution than moving the border. lqtm

TB