The initiative to split California into three separate states is building momentum, but many obstacles remain to it becoming a reality, Fox News reported Tuesday.
"There are a lot of what-ifs," said Citizens for Cal3 spokeswoman Peggy Grande, but she said that California is “too big to govern.”
The split is not a partisan issue, Grande said. "We have supporters of Cal3 from both sides. This goes across political lines…this is an economic issue, not a political issue," Grande said.
"This is about people who want California to be fixed and saved and this is the way to do it. We have crumbling infrastructure, dirty water, and failing schools. In almost every statistic, 49 states are doing better," said Grande, Fox News reported.
The California secretary of state verified almost a half-million signatures that Cal3 Initiative backer Tim Draper collected, which qualifies it for the November ballot, the report noted.
If that measure passes, questions remain over the impact of litigation, congressional approval, and confusion over state-level support, Fox News reported.
While California’s initiative process allows voters to enact a law and bypass the state legislature, Article 18 in the state’s constitution makes a distinction between an “amendment” and a "revision" to the constitution. That distinction could point out whether the Cal3 initiative holds up at the state level if voters pass it.
Congressional approval would also be required for the split, as Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution maintains that "no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state," without the consent of Congress and of the states involved in the issue, Fox News noted.
The split would create Northern California (including San Francisco), California (including Los Angeles), and Southern California (including San Diego). The representation in the House of Representatives would be likely to stay about the same, but four additional U.S. Senators would be added.
Historically, Congress has admitted four states that split off from existing states: Vermont, Kentucky, Maine, and West Virginia.
“It is all about education the voter on how much better this will be for them… Cal3 gives them an opportunity to improve the state,” said Cal3 founder Tim Draper in June.
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