California
is moving closer to a landmark November vote that could chop the state in three, splitting San Francisco from Los Angeles, dividing the Central Valley in half, and creating a mountain of
questions about how the nations biggest state would divvy Its resources
Tim Draper, a Bay Area venture capitalist seeking to bow up California as it now exists, says hell
submit more than 600, 000 signatures to the secretary of state next week for a measure that would
divide the state into what hes labeled Northem Califomia Southem Califomia and Califomia
A total of 365, 880 vald signatures is needed o ut he statue before voters Once the signatures
are filed with the state it will take more than a month to determine whether the initiative qualifes
for the Nov. 6 ballot
Draper and other proponents of the al 3 initative already are looking ahead to a fall campaign and
the possibilities a victory would bring
If you were going to start a new state today, it wouldn t look anything like what we have, " Drape
said Friday. "This is a chance for three fresh new approaches to government
But there are no guarantees, as Draper found during a similar, but even more ambitious, state
partition plan on which he spent $5 2 miion in 2014. The effort o split Califomia to six states
collected 1. 3 mion signatures for the proposed constitutonal amendment, only to see nearly half
of them disqualified. He ended up about 100, 000 short of the 807, 615 vald signatures he needed
This time were so far over what we need that even if there is a blip in the signature count, weve
got enough to quallfy, "Draper said
while the lower signature requirement for his new statute initative may make it easier to qualify for
the ballot, Draper will still face plenty of problems convincing voters that three Californias are better
than one. Congress would also need to be convinced, lawmakers must approve any split.
is just goes to show that a billionaire with a wacky idea can get about anything on the ballot,
said Steve Maviglio, a Democatic consultant who was part of a bipartisan effort opposing the 2014
ire. This doesnt solve a single problem in the state or add a single jof
that's not the way Draper sees it.
People know the state provides the worst eduation and the highest taxes and that it's not doing
anything to make it better, he said. Three new states could become models not only for the rest
of the country but for the entire world
Smaller is better, Draper argues: The new states could tailor their regulations and spendng
priorities to their own local needs.
power delegated to somone very distant, t creates a problem whats small thouh s a matter of
