The New York Times has had four stories of interest to The Thicket over the last couple of days. They include:
- A reasonably balanced profile of Alabama state Senator Scott Beason: "Outside of college football, Mr. Beason has become just about the most divisive topic in Alabama."
- A rundown on on Amazon.com's plans to launch an initiative in California to overturn that state's law requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes and its implications for other states
- A story on the declining influence of rural legislators featuring Washington Senate minority leader Mark Schoesler, the only farmer left in that state's Senate, with other references to the roles of rural legislators in Virginia, Oregon and Idaho.
Like other longtime lawmakers, representatives of rural areas in states without term limits tend to hold on longer. Those with the most longevity, and power, are mostly white men and often from states in the South, Midwest and West that have strong rural traditions, even if their populations are now more urban. They succeed in part because experienced hands are still in demand, even amid calls for change in state capitols. There can be a paradox in their power: the regions they come from are often in decline, so their seats may not be hotly contested.
“Generally, as a rule of thumb, you don’t see senior leadership coming from embattled districts,” Mr. Schoesler said. “Leaders have to do unpopular things, so you tend to see both parties look for safe seats to groom leadership in.”
- A story about a movement to establish a separate state of South California that has this nice short explanation of the history of breakaway states in California and elsewhere:
Calling for secession in difficult economic times is not a new idea — more than 200 such proposals to break up California have been floated since the state was formed in 1850. In 1992, several northern counties held an advisory vote on secession, but it ultimately went nowhere.
The closest any campaign came to success was in 1941, when several counties in Northern California and southern Oregon campaigned to form the state of Jefferson. At the time, the counties said they did not have enough roads and created a “Proclamation of Independence” for the 49th state — Alaska and Hawaii had not yet joined the union.
But just as the movement was gaining traction, Pearl Harbor was attacked, and residents put aside their dreams for a new state to work on the war effort.
Calls to break from the rest the state are not unique to California. Parts of Texas, Florida and Idaho have all tried to divide from their home state in the last several decades. Although the details differ, the story line is basically the same — one part of the state believes it is getting short shrift from the capital.
Any proposal to form a new state requires approval from the state legislature and the United States Congresss. The last state that successfully split off from another state is West Virginia in 1863. See "States that were Never Territories."
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