New California declares ‘independence’ from California, hopes to become 51st state

MARYSVILLE, CA (WCMH) – A group of people have declared independence from the state of California and hope to form the state of New California.

They don’t want to leave the United States, just California, KOVR reports.

“Well, it’s been ungovernable for a long time. High taxes, education, you name it, and we’re rated around 48th or 50th from a business climate and standpoint in California,” New California founder Robert Paul Preston told KOVR.

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New California published its own Declaration of Independence Monday, with language similar to that of the US Declaration of Independence.

The declaration in part reads:

The history of the present Governor and Government of California is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of a Tyranny over the Counties of New California and the State of California.
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to seek a constitutional remedy to the abuse of powers.
We the people of the Counties of New California solemnly publish and declare these counties are, and of Right ought to be, a free and Independent State, that we strive to be free from the State of California, and that as a Free and Independent State, have full power to establish and maintain law and order, to promote general prosperity, and to do all other acts and things, which an Independent New California State may rightfully do.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the Counties of New California, appeal to the California Legislature and the Federal Congress to pass resolutions to create the State of New California. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.

The proposed New California incorporates most of California’s rural counties and leaves most of the urban areas along the coast within the original state of California.

“There’s something wrong when you have a rural county such as this one, and you go down to Orange County which is mostly urban, and it has the same set of problems, and it happens because of how the state is being governed and taxed,” Preston told KOVR.