Image showing the proposal to split California into six states. ; Credit: LAO
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper certainly thinks so — his plan to divide California into six new states gathered new momentum this week after Draper received permission from California Secretary of State Debra Bowen to begin collecting petition signatures for his measure.
Draper has 150 days to collect signatures from 807,615 registered voters in order to qualify the six-state initiative for the ballot. The new Californias would be broken up by region -- Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Long Beach would be West California and Silicon Valley would be its own state.
The new divisions would make for an interesting breakdown of resources and wealth. Central California would be home to almost all of the food, prisons, and the lowest-income households. Silicon Valley would become the richest state in the country, as well as a major water importer.
Could splitting California into six states be a viable plan? How would it work? Could each state reasonably function as an independent entity? Can’t we all just get along?
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Guest:
Tim Draper, Founding Partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. He is behind the 'Six Californias' ballot measure
Greg Baumann, Editor in Chief of the Silicon Valley Business Journal
Joe Moore, Editor, Valley Public Radio in Fresno
Katie Orr, State Government Reporter for Capital Public Radio in Sacramento
Bianca Barragan, Associate Editor of Curbed LA
Official Proposal: