Several rural California counties on Tuesday declared their independence from the state of California, and plan to bring legislation to the California government in the next year-and-a-half to legally divide the state in two and create the "New California," CBS Sacramento reports.
"After years of over taxation, regulation, and mono-party politics the State of California and many of its 58 Counties have become ungovernable," the group said in a statement, citing a "decline in essential basic services."
West Virginia was formed in similar fashion.
The group behind the plan wants the "New California" to include most of the state's rural counties, leaving the urban coastal counties to the current state of California.
"Well, it's been ungovernable for a long time. High taxes, education, you name it, and we're rated around 48th or 50th from a business climate and standpoint in California," said founder Robert Paul Preston.
"There's something wrong when you have a rural county such as this one, and you go down to Orange County which is mostly urban, and it has the same set of problems, and it happens because of how the state is being governed and taxed," he added.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.