California became its own free, no slavery state on September 9th of 1850. For years our state has hugged the coast line and has been our home to hundreds of miles of mountains and deserts. However, this may all change.
On Tuesday June 12th, our beautiful Golden State, which is the most populated state in the nation, has a new plan to split into 3 jurisdictions. This new plan was submitted and qualifies for the upcoming November 6th ballot.
If voted upon and passed this plan to split California would make major history. The last state division occurred in 1863 in West Virginia. In Timothy Draper’s Amendment of Proposed Initiative No. 17-0018 one of his statement findings says “California is the nation's third largest state by geography, over two times larger than the average of the fifty states, with enormous and diverse economies, including agriculture, energy, technology, and entertainment.”
So, what will this split incur exactly? If passed, the state of California will be split into 3 different jurisdictions. The 3 will include Northern California, Southern California, and California.
Northern California will include a large majority of what California is currently. This will be the entire upper half including the Bay Area and Sacramento. Southern California will include the lower half with a very small piece of coastal land near San Diego. It will cover the Mojave Desert and a large portion of the San Joaquin Valley. The last piece of the California split will be known as “California”. This portion will include a majority of the lower coast line and include Los Angeles and Monterey.
Draper’s initial Proposed Initiative states that “the State of California shall continue until the organization and establishment of a separate government in a newly created state, including the adoption of a Constitution by convention or popular vote within each newly created state.”
According to the proposal, this new initiative could help solve some of California’s issues such as, high taxes, strained government, failing school systems, and even deteriorating infrastructures.
This was not the first attempt to split the state of California. Draper proposed the initiative in 2014 but was ultimately denied. However, there has been at least 200 attempt s or more to make this type of split. From splitting the state into pieces, reconfiguring its boundaries, and even attempting to become its own country.
If the ballot measure were to be approved by voters it will still need the passing of both houses of the California Legislature. The U.S Senate currently has 2 seats for the state of California. With this new proposal and if approved that would allow for the new states of California to have 6 seats in the house.
The debate on this is balanced for those opposed and those for it. While some are looking for the new split to happen, others are perfectly okay with the current state as is. Whether you are for or against it be sure to keep a look out for this measure on the upcoming ballot and make your vote count.