Another California Divorce In The Works?

Well, now that the California Governator and Maria Shriver are officially split, it's time for another epic legal battle. So once again, ladies and gentleman, it's time for another proposal to split California itself as well. Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) is proposing to split the state into California and South California. Whee!

'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. Stone is proposing to separate eleven inland counties and two south Pacific coast counties from the rest of the state. The counties designed by Stone to be in South California are Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern (my new home county), Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, Roverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Imperial. All but San Bernardino and Imperial are majority Republican counties. He doesn't include Ventura (my former home county) and Santa Barbara counties, though they are Republican-leaning.

Likewise, Stone does not include Los Angeles County, even though it is in South(ern) California. That might be the reason for leaving Ventura and Santa Barbara out, since Los Angeles County (traditional California) would be an island in the middle of South California, cut off from the rest of California. Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara are contiguous Pacific Coast counties, with Los Angeles the southernmost. But he appears to be willing to give up a couple of moderately-populated Republican counties in order to avoid including one humongous Democratic county. Can't say I blame him.

Stone says that California is "an ungovernable financial catastrophe from which businesses are fleeing and where taxpayers are being crushed by the burden of caring for welfare recipients and illegal immigrants." I can't find much to argue with there. Stone's proposal would remove about 13 million citizens from California, leaving the tarnished Golden State with about 42 million. The largest issue not relating directly to party registration is the Central Valley drought, brought on in large part by crazed bureaucrats in Sacramento and Washington DC protecting an allegedly endangered fish that practically nobody has ever heard of outside of this blog and a few conservative radio and TV stations.

Although Stone has chosen his prospective counties which would make up South California, he says he would be amenable to breaking up California into a coastal state and an inland state. If the effort as currently proposed were to succeed, the United States House representation would be largely unaffected, but South California would now have two United States Senators to offset traditional California's two. Traditional California's Electoral College clout would be reduced by about 7.5%.

Says Stone: "This deal has struck a chord with a lot of people in the state who have suffered economically. We know it's going to be a challenge to form a second state, but it's not impossible. We're sending a message." In reply, Governor Jerry Brown's office has a slightly different take on the subject: "The proposal is a political stunt. It's a supremely ridiculous waste of everybody's time. If you want to live in a Republican state with very conservative right-wing laws, then there's a place called Arizona." Some of us have lived here as long as you have, Governor Moonbeam, and prefer to stay. But many others have already taken your advice. One man's political stunt is another man's heartfelt message.

That was all the good news. Now for the bad news. Ain't gonna happen, at least if California history is any guide. Proposals to split the state into two or three new states have been up before the counties, or the legislature, or the people a total of 220 times, and so far none have made it past first base. The San Fernando Valley can't even rid itself of the rest of Los Angeles, though it has been trying to secede for over fifty years. Splitting the state is an even harder project.

Stone did put a good reason for splitting the state up for discussion, though. And his example is instructive of how much real people with real jobs, real goals and real brains need to get away from the rest of the state: "While California sinks ever-farther into hopeless debt, Los Angeles and San Francisco just enacted bans on plastic grocery bags. That put three our four manufacturers out of business and several dozen employees out of work."

California is likely to keep stumbling toward the cliff wearing a blindfold, but some of us have visions of a state with free and independent citizens, unburdened by immense public debt brought about by five decades of handouts and crazy schemes. You might even call it "California Dreaming."