A Few Check Points for the Liberty State

The concept of a 51st state with a division of Washington along the crest of the Cascades has surfaced again. Reports on the concept, which has been around the block a few times in the past, surfaced in two recent editions of Colville's Statesman Examiner newspaper.

One report noted a large crowd gathered at the Colville's Agricultural Trade Center to hear State Rep. Matt Shea, a Republican from District 4 in Spokane Valley, introduce what he called eight steps to freedom in order to bring about a state split and create Liberty State.

In Shea's view, Washington state has two sides and people on opposite sides of the Cascade crest don't see "eye to eye" on topics such as water rights, taxes, the right to bear arms, property rights, wolves and education.

The like-minded electorate in the new state could see its first political fissures emerge when they try to decide where its capitol dome, if they decide to pay for one, will be placed.

Proponents should also pencil out to see if all the high-priced real estate and industrial and tech property in Puget Sound area, under the McCleary tax revisions, wind up providing revenue for the budgets of school districts on the east side.

Another concern here would be how the like-minded majority of Liberty State would accommodate Whitman County, the lone county in the east side which went blue and favored Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

When this topic surfaces, the people with the "them and us" rationale for Liberty might discover that Whitman County turns out to be the "them" among the newly formed "us." Will Whitman County with its university population wind up being the new "left coast" for Liberty State?

Jerry Jones

Gazette Editor