USA TODAY International Edition
Why Tim Draper wants to break up California
Venture capitalist sees startup potential in state government
SAN FRANCISCO – Even in Silicon Valley, where wildly improbable ideas are the coin of the realm, few people put much stock in Tim Draper’s radical plan to break up California.
But the iconoclastic 60-year-old venture capitalist is savoring victory this week after his initiative to split California into three states collected enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Draper, who made a name for himself funding Hotmail, Skype and Tesla and as an outspoken champion of cryptocurrency, ticks off the ways California is failing its citizens one by one: deteriorating quality of life, crumbling roads and bridges, an underperforming education system, ballooning pension obligations for government workers, political cronyism and unfriendly policies that are driving businesses out of state.
The only answer, he says, is to start over with smaller states that can run more efficiently and with less red tape. Greater competition would force governments to be more responsive to the needs of residents and businesses. And California would get six Senate seats and more political clout in Washington.
“I looked at this and thought: We really need to start fresh,” Draper told USA TODAY. “We need a way for governments to be accountable. We need a way to empower the residents of the state.”
If this sounds like an elevator pitch from a starryeyed entrepreneur angling to disrupt an established industry, that’s because it is – but this one is squarely aimed at California voters.
“There’s a monopoly government in California, and I’m a startup guy,” Draper said. “When there’s a monopoly industry or an oligopoly industry where the service is bad and the price is high, I look at that as an opportunity for an entrepreneur or somebody to come in and create a better service at a lower cost.”
His arguments have not swayed Californians in the past. In 2014, he spent $5.2 million trying to slice up the state into six parts, which failed to make the ballot. But his proposal captured media attention and landed him a spot on Stephen Colbert’s show to discuss, in Colbert’s words, “a great new plan to make California whole again by breaking it apart.”
In September, Draper took another shot at carving up California. His new plan calls for three states, with one state centered around Los Angeles and the other two divvying up the counties to the north and south.
The initiative taps a rich vein of resentment in California, between the more liberal coastal population centers and more conservative mountain areas, between its citizens and the state’s sprawling bureaucracy, and between business lobbies and regulators.
“You can just let the state flop around and die or wait until there’s some sort of violent revolution. Or you can try to stem the tide by doing something like this,” Draper said. “I think this avoids the violent revolution, or it avoids California becoming a ghost town.”
Draper’s not lacking his trademark enthusiasm, but his proposal is a long shot that faces major hurdles. Chief among them: Even if it passed, the initiative would likely require the approval of the California legislature and Congress and the blessing of President Donald Trump.
There’s loads of opposition and little popular support. An April poll by Survey USA found that California voters were against the measure by a margin of 4 to 1.
“California government can do a better job addressing the real issues facing the state, but this measure is a massive distraction that will cause political chaos and greater inequality,” said Steve Maviglio, who is running the opposition campaign.
Plus, Draper has competition from an alternative proposal – another group wants California to “Calexit,” as in secede from the U.S. And history is not on his side. Separatists in California have tried to divide up the state more than 200 times.