Let's face it, California is among the least governable states in the nation. Crazy ass policies that have given Democrats their gradual victory in their war-of-attrition against political opposition. However, the above map(credit given to Deviant art user YNot1989) appears to be the most practical way of partitioning California as negotiating with Democrats will be necessary. How can this happen you might ask? California has huge pension & liability problems & is made ungovernable by special interests.
California's State Assembly & Senate districts represent 450k & 900k people respectively, putting the California State Legislature at the mercy of special interests, something John Cox has rallied against. My theory here is some Democrats could accept this deal if they come under some hard pressure such as Congress & the White House establishing conditions for solving California's pension crisis the same federal funds are given as long as states meet certain conditions.
Tim Draper(pictured left) has proposed splitting California into 3 states(pictured right) but there are some complications here. I like the idea but there needs to be a plan/transition to ensure the problems associated with partitioning California are remedied such as establishing interstate compacts for water, Medical, pensions, etc to ensure people don't lose state benefits as a result of partition. As for California's debt, succeeding states will share that debt based on their GDP so for example the succeeding state with the highest GDP will inherit the greatest debt burden.
How could the Democrat controlled California State Legislature possibly agree to any partition? For starters, the federal funding & bailouts they receive will come with certain conditions they must meet such as reducing burdensome regulations, making the state more affordable for business, improving the quality of life, ensuring carbon regulations do not have negative impacts on economic success, implement safeguards against voter fraud, reform legislation like CEQA(flaws in this law have resulted in low housing supply & unaffordability), eliminate water rationing laws & build comprehensive water storage facilities, ensure money goes to fixing roads, expanding freeways, & reducing traffic, repealing mandatory vaccination laws that do not include "credible concern" exemptions, ensuring school choice & prohibiting any kind of compulsory education unless students are between the ages of 6 & 18, repealing soft-on-crime laws like AB109, Prop 47, & Prop 57, & establishing reasonable Taxing & Spending policies that don't burden the middle class, and stop pro-illegal immigration policies attracting illegal aliens.
California's government has spent itself into such financial hell they wind up dependent on federal money. However, he who pays the piper makes the rules! For example, every US state has a standard Drinking Age of 21 as a result of federal transportation funding rules with those rules being enforced. The reason sanctuary cities have defied federal law prohibiting federal funding for sanctuary cities/states is because these rules have not been enforced with the Trump administration starting to enforce defunding of sanctuary cities.
Of course, conditions for federal funding are the most practical way at influencing California's government to behave itself without having to be partitioned. However, if California is to be partitioned, the most practical way is according to this map:
Here are the following successor states mentioned here:
Mojave would be comprised from San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, & San Bernardino counties & most likely be a conservative-leaning state similar to Arizona & North Carolina. This state is known for it's deserts, US military testing & manufacturing.
Los Angeles would be comprised from Orange, Los Angeles, & Ventura counties. This would most likely be the most populace state politically similar to New Mexico, Oregon, & Washington. While Democrats would hold legislative power, there would be a strong Republican base able to survive politically.
California would be comprised of the Central Valley & Upper Coastal Counties from Santa Barbara to the Santa Clarita Valley. New California would be politically similar to Midwestern battleground states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, & Pennsylvania. New California would be the agricultural wonder of the Western United States.
San Francisco would be comprised of the Bay area counties. San Francisco would politically be a Safe Democrat state similar to Massachusetts & Illinois. San Francisco has the highest housing costs West of the Mississippi & so many people there can't afford housing.
Jefferson would be comprised of counties north of the Bay & Sacramento areas. Jefferson would be a Safe Republican state much like Montana. Jefferson has vast water & lumber resources but environmentalist fiends have held Jefferson's resources hostage.
California is so socially, politically, & economically diverse that even Democrats in California would be in favor of such as partition. Even the Democrat state legislature could agree to this if the right deals are made such as solving the state's pension & unfunded liabilities as well as paying off some of California's debts. These could also be paid for by federalizing California's natural resources & overriding any state regulations obstructing such refinement.
Of course, if California is to be partitioned, the following Interstate Compacts must be formed:
- Water resources will be connected to a Federally approved interstate compact between succeeding states
- MediCal benefits made before official partitions would be handled by the Federally supervised Interstate Compact while succeeding states would form their own agencies with future benefits being handled by said agencies.
- Pension programs such as CalPers would be placed under a Federal Interstate Compact while state employees would be either transferred to succeeding state agencies or be given unemployment benefits until proper employment can be found.
- Statewide University systems would be placed under a temporary compact where students & staff would be protected under if they were enrolled before the partition
- California's debts would be shared among each succeeding state based on GDP. For example, the succeeding state with the highest GDP would inherit the most amount of debt.
On the other hand, I don't think it's necessary to partition California to make California better but have the Federal Government pay off California's unfunded liabilities & debts if it agrees to certain terms & conditions.
While I've heard about a new movement to have San Diego-Orange coastline, Inland Empire, Central Valley, & Upstate regions breakaway from the L.A.-Bay Area regions, this movement could have Congress pass some measures forcing California to abide by certain terms & conditions before receiving federal funding. These rules could also apply to other poorly governed Democrat run states such as Illinois & New York.
While partition of large states is unlikely, having Congress establish incentives for state governments to reform themselves to be more accountable to their taxpayers could make these states much better places to live in. For example, people who left California may want to come back. I'll illustrate the terms & conditions part & what Congress should do in another blog post.
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