Re: State of Jefferson

I would like everyone to know what just happened in our state that will benefit all counties in California.

On Monday, May 9, a lawsuit was filed against the Secretary of State Alex Padilla (since Padilla's office is in charge of voting matters) in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division by the Citizens for Fair Representation. This lawsuit is seeking better representation for each person in each California County.

In California, more than 40 million people are represented by only 40 senators and 80 Assembly members; this imbalance of representation ranks the worst of all of the 50 states.

Of the 58 counties in California, 48 are considered rural, comprise nearly 50 percent of the state’s land mass and represent approximately 6 percent of the voting population. Each California senator is representing about 1 million people and each Assembly member about 500,000, which means we (the 21 rural counties that want to create a new 51st state called Jefferson) have what we have – two senators versus 38 and 4 Assembly members versus 76 – fighting for us (6 against 114). We have to live with the results of that fight.

The fire tax and the gas tax were passed by the legislators representing the majority of voters living in urban areas. These taxes are hurting our bank accounts, not theirs, and what will “they” think of next to tax us (rural counties) on?

The grievance for more representation has been filed for us by the CfFR and now we will see if California wants to level the playing field. The Democrats like their super majority so there will be a fight. The decision, though, for now, will be up to the courts and if it is necessary we can go to the Supreme Court.

If you want to know more about Jefferson, visit www.sy4j51.com. For a complete history on the state of Jefferson formation, visit www.soj51.org.