An idea as old as The State of California – This iteration is from 32 years ago

It is always a good idea to clean out old files from time to time. Not only do you rid yourself of clutter, you occasionally find something interesting.

Such was the case of the document seen below. It was a hard-copy press release in the days before the widespread use of email and the Internet.

As you can see, it is a press release from the late and former California Assemblymember Stan Statham. And the topic of Staham’s press release – legislation proposing the 51st State of Jefferson.

The idea of a new state formed from portions of far Northern California and Southern Oregon has been around almost as long as California has been a state.

While the more recent push for Jefferson has more partisan overtones, Statham’s argument is more a rural versus urban-suburban divide argument, which did have partisan notes, but not nearly as strident as those in the last few years.

Even though the idea has no chance of coming to fruition short of the collapse or severe weakening of the federal government into a confederacy, you can be sure this idea will live on for years.