California is so big that it cannot be governed by one state government, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper has said. Draper believes that the largest state in the country by population needs to be split into six states. If he gets enough petition signatures, the proposal could get on the ballot.
“California as it is is ungovernable,” Draper explained to ABC News. “It is more and more difficult for Sacramento to keep up with the social issues from the various regions of California.” He added that it would give an opportunity to the California states to “refresh” their governments.
In December, he filed for a ballot initiative and Secretary of State Debra Bowen will let him try to get over 800,000 signatures by the July 18, 2014 deadline.
California currently has 38 million residents. Ever since it was created as a single state in 1850, there have been proposals to split it, but none have succeeded, notes The Associated Press.
Draper believes that if it doesn’t happen now, the state will get worse, telling the AP, “California is not working.”
Of course, splitting California is not as easy as it sounds, especially on the federal level. One of the key hurdles would be completely throwing off the Senate. The Constitution allows each state two Senators, so California’s six states would get 12 senators. At the moment, 50 states, gives the Senate an even 100 senators.
Here’s Draper’s current proposal:
South California - San Diego, Orange County
West California - Los Angeles, Santa Barbara
Central California - Bakersfield, Fresno and Stockton
Silicon Valley - San Francisco, San Jose
North California - Sacramento and surrounding areas
Jefferson - Redding, Eureka
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons