Secession Update:State of Jefferson brings three more California counties on board

The Sacramento Bee reports:

Supporters of the aspiring State of Jefferson returned to Sacramento on Thursday to present “declarations of separation” from three more Northern California counties.

The petitions from Tehama, Glenn and Yuba counties, expressing their desire to withdraw from California because of a perceived lack of representation in the Legislature, bring the total number of breakaway counties to five. Jeffersonians rallied at the Capitol last August after presenting their initial declarations from Siskiyou and Modoc counties.

Mark Baird, the movement’s chairman who hails from Mugginsville in Siskiyou County, said that when he filed the petitions with state officials Thursday, “They didn’t know what to do with them. They didn’t want them.”

He’ll be back next month with another declaration from Sutter County, Baird said, and Plumas and Lake counties may follow. Once 10 or 12 counties are on board, Baird and his allies plan to ask the Legislature to pass a bill allowing the State of Jefferson to secede.

Before a rally on the steps of the Capitol, freshman Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, met with attendees. He sported a pin with Jefferson’s XX seal, which stands for double-crossed by Sacramento.

Secession in the news.