A proposal to split California into three states has garnered more than 600,000 signatures, nearly double the number required to be included on the November ballot.
The “CAL 3” proposal would effectively separate California’s northern and southern regions from its far more liberal middle:
One proposed state would be called California or a name to be chosen by its residents after a split. It would consist of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Benito counties.
A second state, Southern California or a name to be chosen by its residents, would consist of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera and Mono counties.
The remaining 40 counties would be part of the state of Northern California or a name chosen by its residents.
Cal 3 says splitting California into NorCal, SoCal, and Cal would improve California’s school systems, local government, roads, and tax regulation. @threestateca is filing more than 600,000 signatures of support to trigger a November vote on the issue. pic.twitter.com/qTVDyyJz7n
— Samantha Cortese (@SamanthaCortese) April 12, 2018
The initiative was proposed by venture capitalist Tim Draper, who contends that “the citizens of the whole state would be better served by three smaller state governments while preserving the historical boundaries of the various counties, cities and towns.”
Indeed, the public seems to agree. “This is an unprecedented show of support on behalf of every corner of California to create three state governments that emphasize representation, responsiveness, reliability and regional identity,” Draper said.
This is not the first time Draper has proposed splitting up California. His initiative to split the state into six parts, CAL 6, was included on the 2014 ballot.
But Democrats opposed CAL 6 then, and they oppose CAL 3 now. According to Steven Maviglio, a longtime Democratic Party political consultant who was a co-chair of the effort to oppose Draper’s 2014 initiative, “Splitting California into three and creating three new governments does nothing to solve our state’s challenges other than tripling them.”
Source: The Daily Wire
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