Bipartisan opposition rises to plan to split California

What the Hell - Just Do It

The entire state and nation are imploding.  Let's add to

the madness and vote yes if this makes the ballot.

Tim Draper, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who wants to split California into six new states, is getting some bipartisan opposition to his plan.

Steven Maviglio, a Democratic consultant, and Joe Rodota, a fixture in GOP politics, have formed OneCalifornia, a committee that will oppose Draper’s “Six Californias” plan if and when the constitutional amendment gets on the ballot.

“The measure deserves to die a quick death,” Maviglio, former press secretary to Gov. Gray Davis, said in a statement. “We’re calling in the cavalry now to make sure that it does,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Although Draper has not yet turned in the 800,000-plus valid signatures needed to get the amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot, he’s been telling reporters that he’s close to getting to the number needed and has put up $750,000 of his own money to get it done.

That’s only a small piece of the millions it would cost to actually persuade a skeptical public to pass such a game-changing amendment. Organized opposition like that of OneCalifornia will only make that race more expensive.

Tim Draper

Of course, money already is a big part of any discussion about splitting the state. While California ranks 12th among the states in per capita income, a study of the initiative by the state legislative analyst’s office found that if Six Californias takes effect, the new state of Silicon Valley (which would extend from the East Bay to Monterey and include San Francisco) would be the richest state in the nation.

On the other end, Central California, made up of the Central Valley from Stockton to Bakersfield and a number of mountain counties, would be the poorest, with a per capita income $150 lower than that of Mississippi.

“This would be the greatest single misuse of time and money in the history of California,” Rodota, cabinet secretary to former Gov. Pete Wilson, said in a statement.

Draper, not surprisingly, sees things differently. The change would not only recognize the very different needs and desires of the various parts of California and put government closer to the people it represents, he has said, but it also would allow each of the new states to make a fresh start using the best practices of government.

But none of this means anything if Draper’s measure doesn’t make the ballot. Officials from the secretary of state’s office say Draper needs to turn his signatures in to county registrars by April 18 to ensure they can be verified by the June 26 deadline for the November ballot. If he wants to qualify the measure for a subsequent election, he needs to turn in the signatures by July 18.

Splitting California
The California state legislature approved splitting the state in two... back in 1859. The US Constitution Article IV Section 3 states that all it takes to split a state (and thus create a new state) is to get approval of the state legislature and the US Congress. Signoff by a state legislature has occurred three times in American history.
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1) Massachusetts voted to set its northern district free to become Maine in 1820.
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2) In the Civil War era, the "restored" Virginia government voted to create West Virginia. (There is considerable dispute about the legality of this vote, however).
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3) California's legislature voted to split the state in two in 1859.
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See more at Lost States.