SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Opponents of an initiative to split California into three states asked the state Supreme Court to pull the measure from the ballot, arguing it’s too drastic a change to state government to go through the normal initiative process.
A lawsuit filed Monday by the Planning and Conservation League argues major changes to the state’s government structure require approval from two-thirds of the Legislature before going under consideration by voters or a state constitutional convention.
The initiative would break the state into Northern California, California and Southern California.
Northern California would comprise the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Sacramento and counties north of the current state capital. California would be a strip of land along the coast stretching from Los Angeles to Monterey. Southern California would include Fresno and the surrounding farming communities, reaching all the way to San Diego and the Mexican border.
Venture capitalist Tim Draper is financing the “Cal 3” initiative in his latest attempt to divide the state. He has spent more than $1.7 million supporting it. The nation’s most populous state has become too difficult to govern because of its size, wealth disparities and geographic diversity, Draper and the initiative’s supporters argue.