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Old February 21st, 2014 #1
Alex Linder
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Default California

http://americanlivewire.com/2014-02-...ng-six-states/

Is California dividing Into Six States?
Posted by: Ryan Scott

California is the most populated state in the US, currently around 38 million, and as a result it has been said that the state is difficult to govern. But is California dividing into six states? If Tim Draper has his way, the answer is yes.

Draper, a venture capitalist from Silicon Valley is pushing a proposal that would divide the heavily populated western state into six different states. Draper claims that the citizens would be better served by six smaller governments.
“Vast parts of our state are poorly served by a representative government,” Draper said.

Though there may be truth in Draper’s statements, it may not matter. There have been plans introduced in the past to divide California, but none have succeeded. Previous plans suggested dividing the state into anywhere from two to four separate states.

Draper has received approval to begin collecting signatures on a petition. If he collects enough, roughly 808,000 of them by mid-July, the proposal will go to ballot.

Even if California voters approve the measure, it would have to be approved by congress. Under the constitution, all state creations or divisions of any states must be approved by congress.

The other issue that would need to be addressed is that currently, California has 2 senators. Under the proposal, 10 more senators would have to be added, 2 for each new state. But Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, seems to think that isn’t likely.