Fed up with ‘tyranny’ and taxes, California group wants to secede from state

Jennifer Harper - The Washington Times

They’d call it ‘New California’

Image from article, with caption: Heavily populated Hollywood and coastal areas would remain part of the state under the New California plan

Without much fanfare, a California interest group staged a recent press conference in the state’s capital of Sacramento to announce its intention to form its own state.

The name is simple. They plan to call it New California, an area composed mostly of rural areas with a population of about 15 million. The heavily populated coastal areas would remain as California they say, describing the region as tyrannical and ungovernable, following “years of over taxation, regulation, and mono-party politics.”

The group predicts that New California will be the sixth largest state behind New York, and bigger than Illinois and Pennsylvania. It also says 25 to 27 seats in the House of Representatives will go to New California, with ‘old’ California becoming the second most populous state in the U.S. behind Texas and ahead of Florida. The “old” state also would lose those seats in the House.

“New California will demonstrate a governance system as modeled by the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” the group noted.

Such a “Calexit” idea is not new. A group called Yes California Independence was founded last year shortly after President Trump was elected. Four years ago, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist collected signatures to split the Golden State into a half-dozen states.

It’s an idea that draws an interested but wary reaction from fellow citizens.