Real Estate developer Jeff Burum is pitching the idea of statehood in the Inland Empire. Burum wants the IE to secede from the State of California and become its own state. Burum made the pitch at the July 26th San Bernardino Board of Supervisors meeting. He says the state does not allocate enough funds to San Bernardino County and the area often gets overlooked and ignored. The new state would be called “Empire.”
Burum has the support of two mayors- Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren and Upland Mayor Bill Velto. The proposal is a long shot and would first voters to approve it and then it would require passage in congress. Hawaii was the last state to be granted statehood in 1959. San Bernardino is the largest county in California.
