The proposal to divide California, the third largest and most populated state in the United States, into six smaller regions has received the green light to advance toward the ballot box, according to several news reports.
The ballot initiative proposed by Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley investor, can now start collecting signatures for the petition to split the state into six smaller regions.
Draper first proposed the idea in December 2013, saying the state was too big and diverse to govern easily, resulting in problems with state-run infrastructure and other issues, reports The Independent.
"California, as it is, is ungovernable. It is more and more difficult for Sacramento to keep up with the social issues from the various regions of California," Draper told the publication, arguing that splitting the state will spark healthy economic competition among the new regions, resulting in growth.
Draper suggests the six new states be divided as:
- Jefferson (encompassing far north of the current state, Redding and Eureka areas)
- North California (to include current capital Sacramento)
- Central California (farmlands of Bakersfield, Stockton and Fresno)
- Silicon Valley (San Jose, San Francisco and the corridor between the cities)
- West California (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and beyond)
- South California (San Diego, Orange County)
"'Six Californias' allows a refresh," Draper told USA Today.
Draper needs to amass more than 800,000 signatures to land the question on the 2016 ballot with just until July 18 to do it, reports Fox News.
Of course, the plan is not without its skeptics, some of whom argue the plan is just one wealthy investor's way of retaining tax revenues in the rich areas.
And then there are the national political consequences to take into account.
"It's certainly fun to talk about. But its prospects are nil. I don't think anyone is going to give California 12 Senate seats," Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, told the Washington Post.
