Representatives from some counties in upstate and western NY are moving forward with proposal to divide New York state into three separate regions.

The Divide New York Caucus held its annual meeting in Rochester over the weekend, where they discussed updates on two proposed state constitutional amendments that would be needed for the split to happen.

John Bergener is the Chair of Divide New York Caucus, He says that New York City has a big influence on laws and regulations in areas like energy, business, and taxes.

He says there would be benefits for Western and Upstate New York if they operate as separate governments within one state.

“So the next best thing you can do is the divide yourself in to autonomous regions, each with their own regional governor. And the state governor remains with only token powers about the same as the queen of England,” Bergener said.

One proposal would partition the state into the New Amsterdam Region, which would be upstate; the New York Region, which would be New York City and the Montauk Region, which would include Long Island and the Rockland-Westchester area.

Republican State Assemblyman David DiPietro from Erie County is sponsoring one of the proposed amendments. He says there is a lot that Western New York could do if operated independently from New York City.

DiPietro said, “I would take control of Niagara Power authority right of the bat, the city of Buffalo has a huge welfare problem, We’ll be able to start correcting some New York City mandates.”

DiPietro says his biggest hurdle is gaining support from New York City representatives.

“150 people, 44 Republicans, 106 Democrats, 80 are from New York City. You see the math. New York City, they go to conference every day, they discuss the bills they want to let out, and if New York City says ‘we don’t want it’, it doesn’t go,” DiPietro explained.

Dipietro says if the amendments are added to the state constitution, New York state could be carved into three separate regions in about three years.

Republican Senator Joe Griffo is the acting minority leader in the state Senate and represents a broad swath of Upstate New York that includes part of the North Country.

Griffo has called for a radical restructuring of state politics - to shift Albany power away from New York City upstate.

His plan, which would require approval by the state legislature, voters, and the federal courts, would eliminate the principle of one-person-one-vote in the state Senate and instead allocate political power based on geography.

Griffo compares the idea to the way the Founding Fathers structured the U.S. Senate, giving extra power per capita to small rural states.