California Just Got a Significant Update on ‘Calexit’ - Here’s What It Means

The so-called “Calexit” plan to split California from the rest of the United States got a second chance.

On Monday, April 23, the California Secretary of State’s Office announced that a secession ballot proposal got the green light to gather signatures, CNBC reported.

A similar effort by Calexit backers failed last year after it was discovered that the initiative’s leader, Louis J. Marinelli, had been living in Russia.

“Issue after issue, from immigration to agriculture, from taxation to banking, and on a host of other issues, it is clear that California and the United States have irreconcilable differences and it is time for a divorce,” the campaign’s website says, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper. “We shall now begin circulating the petition forms for that divorce.”

They’re trying to get a referendum in 2020 to ask whether California “should become an independent country, in the form of a republic.” If that answer is a “yes,” there would be a vote in 2021 to make the Calexit a reality.

A supermajority of states would then need to approve the split.

“We realize it may seem like a long time to wait,” Marinelli was quoted by The Times of San Diego saying. “But we need time to have a serious dialogue with the people of California about why they should support the independence referendum by voting yes. The voters need to make an informed decision when they go to the polls to determine California’s political future.”

Analysts told CNBC that the effort is a long shot.

“They’ll be a lot of notoriety, there will be a lot of publicity but I think in practical terms it’s going to fizzle out,” Seth Kaplowitz, a finance lecturer at San Diego State University, told the broadcaster. “It would be ridiculous to secede from the union.”

What’s more, there have been more than 200 attempts throughout the history of California to split, according to CNBC.

Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the leaders of the Yes California, told the broadcaster that if there was a Calexit, it would eliminate bureaucracy and cut down on taxes.

Kaplowitz, however, said that he doesn’t think that a California nation would help business.

“Everybody is leaving California because they’re overtaxed by the state,” he said. “Businesses are leaving, people are moving to Washington state and Texas and the other states that don’t have [an] income tax.”

There is also an effort spearheaded by Tim Draper, a billionaire from Silicon Valley, to divide California into three states.

His plan would create a Northern California state that includes San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Sacramento and northern portions of the Central Valley. Then, it would entail a Southern California state with San Diego as well as Inland Empire counties and parts of the state’s southern Central Valley.

Another state would take the name California and include Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and several counties along the Pacific coast.

“All this is basically saying is that we’re really not one state—we’re so large and we really have three different personalities,” said Kaplowitz, touching on Draper’s initiative, CNBC reported.

“Therefore, each personality should be its own state. The reality is that you can say that about virtually any state.”

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