City of Spokane Valley wants to vote on splitting state

SPOKANE — The Spokane Valley City Council has decided to take a position on whether Washington should be split into two states.

A proposal was recently filed by three Republican state representatives to split the state and create the new state of Liberty out of Eastern Washington.

Spokane Valley City Councilman Ed Pace won support Tuesday night for the city to take a position on the plan. A vote could happen as early as January.

Pace says starting from scratch with a “fresh state government” might be the right thing to do.

The Spokesman-Review says Pace’s proposal drew groans from the audience.

Similar efforts to split the state have been mounted as recently as last year, and as long ago as 1915.