Re: State split movements

There are two movements to split California: the State of Jefferson and New California movements. The impetus behind these efforts is that rural counties have lost their power to influence the state legislature and its policy making decisions. Simply put: the large population metropolitan areas control the state.

The California legislature was designed similar to our federal legislature. Our Assembly, like the House of Representatives, was to represent the people. Similar to the U.S. Senate, which was designed to represent the interests of the various states, the California Senate was initially comprised of one Senator per county, forming a body that represented each of our 58 counties.

The unconstitutional (in my opinion) overreach by the Warren Court in its 1964 Reynolds v Sims decision, prompted California (under Governor Edmond Brown’s administration) to modify the California Constitution, such that our Senate, originally comprised of one Senator per county, was transformed into 40 roughly equal population districts.

Thus, though still called a Senate, California no longer has one, instead we effectively have two assemblies, one comprised of 80 members, the other comprised of 40 members – both subject to gerrymandering and based on population.

The result of this transformation was obvious and disastrous for the rural counties. Political power shifted to the large metropolitan areas, effectively destroying the balance of power in California.

Is it even possible to reverse this miscarriage of justice, and restore our Senate, so we can restore a reasonable balance of power in California?

Don Soegaard