Not sure if it even makes it in the final Bill but seems that way for now…
Opt-Out? Make my day. Sure our Republican “leadership” can opt out. But at the price of creating in an instant a sizable block of voters. A huge single-issue faction will be created that will vote across party lines because it will involve that greatest of political motivators, the pocketbook. To make it worse for Republicans, let’s examine what kind of voters we’ll have here. It’s safe to say the Liberal will vote as they have, but there will be many new voters, the previously politically apathetic won’t be able to ignore the benefits. Lastly there will be crossovers from Right to Left, crossovers, the worst kind of political bean counting.
The other symptom of Opt-Out statehood will be a drain on one of the enshrined tenets of conservative thought, “growth”, as an economic energy vital to their economic model/engine of government. There will be an exodus of sorts from Opt-Out States to In-Opted States. Granted not huge, certainly not enough to significantly affect the tide of Snow Bird drift into this Sunny State, but it’s a no brainer for some insurance-less Idahoans to move to Washington or Minnesota. Not like they haven’t rode side saddle on both sides of a horse before but Republicans will be in the head-twisting position of defending an anti-growth platform.