One Moment, Please… Iowa Buying up Minnesota Counties?

By Jason Sethre

Publisher

Fillmore County Journal 

jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com

At first I thought it was an April Fools’ joke, but then I checked the calendar and it was still mid-January.

Over the past week, there’s been a buzz hitting mainstream media about the idea of Iowa buying all nine southern-most Minnesota counties bordering the Hawkeye state.

Senator Mike Bousselot, a Republican out of Ankeny, Iowa, proposed the bill at the Land Investment Expo, according to a story published by the Des Moines Register.  This became national news.

Bousselot posted a message on X, “Make Minnesota Iowa Again!  Our new Iowans, former MN residents, will have lower income, sales, business taxes.  A more farm friendly state.  And a better managed state.”

While I don’t see this idea coming to fruition any time soon, it’s definitely an interesting topic of conversation.

I was thinking this is crazy talk until I did a Google search regarding proposed state border changes.

In 1961, Minnesota and North Dakota changed their border to account for changes in the Red River of the North’s course, mostly affecting the City of Fargo.  The change was made to help mitigate risk of flooding.

There’s been a movement to transform the states of Oregon and Idaho, which would involve more than a dozen counties moving from Oregon to join Idaho.  As of July 2024, 13 counties in Oregon had approved ballot measures in favor of Greater Idaho, including 13 counties of Oregon: Baker, Cook, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler. 

In 2013, some activists in Colorado counties proposed breaking off to form a new state.  A similar proposal has been attempted with Weld County, Colo., joining the State of Wyoming.

In 2016, activists in California pushed for a vote to split the State of California into six individual states.  It failed to get enough signatures, but in 2018, a proposal for three new states did get enough signatures.  A statewide vote was only avoided because the State Supreme Court panicked and pulled the measure from the ballot. 

“In Illinois, Madison county (near St. Louis) activists have led an effort in which voters in three counties have voted to explore secession from Illinois,” according to sources like www.mises.org and other news organizations.

I guess a border change is more feasible than I had realized.  And, it’s actually on the table in various parts of the United States for one reason or another.

So, let the custody battle begin.  Hey, whether it’s Minnesota or Iowa, at least we know we’re wanted.