Secretary of State of California Debra Bowen has now allowed him to start collecting the signatures he would need to put his plan to a ballot when Californians vote in November 2016, when the next Presidential election will be held.
He would need to find 807,615 registered voters to back his proposals before July 18 - having been given a deadline of 150 days to submit the signatures to county elections officials. The figure is 10per cent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 election.
'If the federal government approves the proposed creation of six new states, all tax collections and spending by the existing State of California would end, with its assets and liabilities divided among the new states,' Ms Bowen said in a statement on her official website.
'Decisions by appointed commissioners and elected leaders would determine how taxes, public spending, and other public policies would change for the new states and their local governments.'
If California did vote for the change, it would then be up to the US Congress to authorise the new states' inclusion into the union.