In a story published yesterday in the Sacramento Bee the paper asserts that “The revolution will begin in Visalia – and it will be led by a man named Maze.”

Bill Maze is a former State Assemblyman who has drawn up a plan to divide California into two separate states.

"We're looking at establishing a breakaway state," he said, with a new government and a new capital. "We'd actually be creating a 51st state."

Maze, a conservative Republican who termed out last year, said that he is tapping into the anger of farmers and others who say that environmental rules and high taxes are sending the state into a salespin.

The division of California into two separate states has been proposed many times during its 159 years in existence.

The most famous secession attempt was the 1941 “State of Jefferson” movement.

Several northern California and southern Oregon counties would have formed a 49th state to be called Jefferson, named after our third president who was often quoted by the secessionists as saying, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”

In an interview at the time, supervisor Jim Chapman summed up the feelings of many Lassen County residents this way, “I think there’s a feeling that the state is too large and dysfunctional”.

He added that many people were saying, “Gee, I don’t want to be part of that.”

Splitting the state would require approval from the state legislature and Congress.  It does not require approval of the governor, president or a direct vote of the people.