No thanks, Jeffersonians

It’s hard for us to get behind the State of Jefferson advocates, when the thrust of their arguments inevitably comes back to gripes about how this far-Northern region of California is underrepresented at the state Capitol. Sure, it’s true. But that cannot be the only reason to secede from the rest of California.

The conservative politicians and activists behind this movement haven’t laid out any plans for how they would tackle the real issues facing the counties and their constituents. There are plenty of them—substance abuse, a dearth of health care and economic development, education, among others. We’re not seeing any ideas for solutions to those problems, nor do we think the proposal is economically viable.

There are practical matters to consider here. The counties in this rural region of the state have high poverty rates and largely low-paying jobs. And the fact is, the poorest counties in the North State take in more money in state services than they pay in taxes. Secession would be disastrous for them, because the government is the largest employer. And the checks cut by the state are primarily funded through taxation of larger, more lucrative municipalities, such as those in the Silicon Valley. In other words, this looks a lot like those counties biting the hand that feeds them.

Four counties thus far have signed onto the secession movement, and in Tehama County’s primary election, nearly 56 percent of voters approved the plan. We’re glad the majority of Butte County’s Board of Supervisors decided to take more time to learn about the issues before declaring support. While ideologues Larry Wahl and Bill Connelly, supervisors representing Chico and Oroville, respectively, attempted to shoehorn in a vote on the half-baked idea, reason prevailed.

The issue isn’t completely dead here. The panel offered an invitation for the Jeffersonians to come back in six months with a better fleshed-out plan. We look forward to hearing what they have to add to the discussion. But for now, as far as we’re concerned, the State of Jefferson movement is a distraction from the real issues facing far-Northern California.