02/23/05 Hearing held on splitting Washington

02/23/05 Hearing held on splitting Washington

Washington Ag February 23, 2005 Populous, urban western Washington versus rural, agricultural eastern Washington was front an center yesterday in Olympia as the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee held a hearing on Senate Joint Memorial 8009, which requests Congress to allow eastern Washington to form a new state. Okanogan County Commissioner Mary Lou Peterson told lawmakers the issue of succession is not a joking matter for citizens of eastern Washington. They are serious about it. Peterson: "The feeling from the people who live on the other side of the mountains, we don't feel a unity. And we don't feel that we are part of the state, because we are outvoted on everything. And it is just the way the population is." Stevens County Commissioner Merle Ott described the impact of regulations promoted by the western urban plurality to address west side problems that are then imposed statewide with negative effects east of the Cascades, a complaint echoed by Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard. Richard: "We do not have the access. Folks in the agencies are not listening. And we are dying on the vine, not just the small counties, but the large counties." One King County Democratic Senator, Adam Kline, actually supports the Memorial, contending that western Washington taxpayers are subsidizing eastern Washington. I'm Bob Hoff.
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