Bill would explore counties joining Dakotas

Carlton County's Dotseth supports secession study

The seriousness of a Republican bill introduced last week can likely be summed up in its author's preferred name for it, the "Rocks and Cows Act."

The bill would produce a study by an appointed commission on finding a pathway for Minnesota counties bordering North Dakota and South Dakota to be annexed into those states.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Matt Grossell, with 19 other Republicans signing on, including Carlton County's Rep. Jeff Dotseth, who supports a study on why neighboring states are gaining more people at a rate higher than Minnesota.

"This bill gives us a means to conduct research, ask the tough questions and help us learn more about why that is happening," Dotseth said. "South Dakota is showing healthy domestic migration growth as Minnesota declines."

This isn't the first time such a proposal has been introduced by Republicans. In 2021 there was a move to make a constitutional amendment to allow most of the state's rural counties to secede from the state and become part of South Dakota. At that time, it was said to be about Covid-19 pandemic mandates in Minnesota while South Dakota employed more lax measures.

This time around, with North Dakota included, Republicans are saying it's about "economic relief" and the ability for rural counties to be heard in what they perceive as a State Legislature leaning toward "centralized" policies influenced by those looking out for the Twin Cities area only. The press release from Grossell continued, "We are standing up for the future of our families as Minnesota trends towards extremes on tax and social policy."

Dotseth said he signed on because he doesn't want to see any "knee jerk" moves by counties that produce "unintended consequences." He said statewide economic growth is a priority and he wants to know more about migration in the western part of the state.

The 13 counties that border the Dakotas hold just 0.02 percent of the state population. Most of them fall in the bottom 15 of counties by population, ranging from 3,275 people to 9,537. One county, Clay, lies outside of that range, with about 66,000 people. It's in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. Clay County had an increase of 6,317 people from the 2010 U.S. Census to the 2020 census. That isolated gain was nearly double the population losses found in 10 in the 13 other counties. For comparison, Carlton County has a population of 36,708, with an increase of 821 between the 2010 and 2020 censuses.

It's difficult to clearly discern if people are migrating into the Dakotas from Minnesota but both states are seeing higher population shifts compared to Minnesota. A Minnesota Public Radio News analysis done in 2021 when the "New South Dakota" bill was introduced showed that there is little to no economic or demographic advantage for counties to secede west.

"While this bill does not directly impact District 11A counties," Dotseth said, "I'm looking to the best interests of our whole state."

There are no fiscal notes on the bill, and it's pretty much dead on arrival with the DFL holding House and Senate majorities along with Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. The nickname for the bill refers to a statement Walz made in 2017 in his first run for governor. The statement was truncated by Republicans aiming to show Walz was out of touch with rural areas of the state. That was despite Walz representing District 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The full quote implied the opposite of what Republicans are implying.

"It's mostly rocks and cows that are in that red area because of demographics," Walz said at the time. "I'm a geographer. But it doesn't change the fact that moving toward an urban population left a lot of areas where they were wondering, 'Where was the person speaking for them?'"

The use of "rocks and cows" has grown into a continuing small movement among Republicans, with at least one website and many regional campaign groups using the phrase. Items bearing the phrase are also up for sale.