Two Washington State representatives want to split the state in half and make Eastern Washington its own state.
Republican Representatives Matt Shea and Bob McCaslin pre-filed a bill for 2017 earlier this week. The bill, House Joint Memorial 4000, would cut the state in two, with eastern Washington becoming the state of Liberty.
According to the legislation, the ideals of many in the eastern part of the state are drastically different than the more liberal western part of the state.
“Since statehood, the lifestyles, culture and economies of eastern and western Washington have been very distinct and dramatically different, while the urbanization and rapid growth of the western portion of the state has progressively heightened this divergence of cultural and economic values between the western and eastern portions of the state,” the bill states.
According to political experts, it’s extremely difficult to form a new state and would take years, if it ever happened at all. The state of Liberty would have to be approved by both houses of the Washington State Legislature and then the U.S. Congress. Also, the new state would have to figure out whether it could pay for itself.
Shea released the following statement on this legislative proposal:
“There are many who like to say we are ‘One Washington.’ Are we really? While it makes for a cute slogan to try and placate the disenfranchised, the fact is, many citizens living in the eastern part of the state are tired of being run over, ignored and downright marginalized by the power brokers in King County. It’s the one issue I hear about the most when traveling around Eastern Washington.
“To those who scoff at the notion of a 51st state I ask, ‘What are you afraid of?’ Let’s have the discussion. Let’s talk about how so many of the critical issues impacting Eastern Washington residents are dictated to us by those who may not share our values, ideals and outlook on life and liberty: wolves, wildfires, water rights, the right to life, the right to property, the right to bear arms, growth management, transportation and the gas tax, taxes and the overregulation of businesses, and the educating of our children. These are all issues that impact us on a daily basis, yet we’ve had little say in them. And that voice of influence continues to get smaller as the Puget Sound rules from its iron throne or ivory tower, take your pick.
“In the past, those who want Eastern Washington to toe the line tell us we’d instantly be one of the poorest states in the union without their Boeings, Microsofts and Amazons. I look around at our beautiful and abundant forests, farms, wheat fields, cattle ranches, orchards, mines and rivers and think perhaps we’re ready to wallow in our ‘poverty.’ If we are such a burden to the west side of the state, why not forgive us and let us go?”