United States state alternate history: Libertopia vs New Israel

Libertopia state:

Flag: https://flag-designer.appspot.com/gwtflags/SvgFileService?d=3&c1=5&c2=4&c3=3&o=0&c4=4&s=0&c5=7

Libertopia (not to be confused with the film or annual libertarian festival/conference held in San Diego) is a state in the Zootopia annexation timeline. It incorporates most of the states that have been proposed in the U.S., and it is considered one of the freest states in the union, being pro-freedom in everything described in http://www.freedominthe50states.org/how-its-calculated, and is great for animal rights as well, with felony penalties for cruelty, neglect, fighting, abandonment and sexual assault on animals, can require forfeiture of animals pre-conviction, and has increased penalties for cases involving multiple animals and added felonies for other mentioned cases, partially stemming from animal rights being enshrined in the constitution.

Libertopia constitution explicitly establishes the right to keep and bear arms and armor,has declared federal law inapplicable within the state and requires that all residents be armed, even though the latter two don’t necessarily exist in practice.

Libertopia has some of the lowest taxes of any state in the union, with only sales taxes being constitutionally permitted. There are few land-use or economic regulations. And, the amount of personal freedoms are, in law, as great as Freedom in the [50] States can measure (I haven’t counted how many states the U.S. would have in this timeline).

And one thing that is unique about libertopia is that the constitution prohibits the establishment of political parties in government, making it the truly non-partisan state. Legislators also have a salary cap of $100 per year, and the governor and lieutenant governor are paid the federal minimum wage. Term limits and requirements to become a legislator or the governor or lieutenant governor are set by statute.


Short explanation of origins:
In the 19th century, as proposed states were popping up, secular classical liberals and minarchists who didn’t want to move all the way to Cascadia decided to take advantage of new states being formed and gain control of those states.

Image credits, from first to last:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jefferson_territory.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln_in_TX.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_USA_AB.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Okterritory.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:North_Colorado.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2013_election_results,_North_Colorado_secession_movement.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Long_Island_statehood_map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Delmarva.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Superior-Proposed-State-Expanded.png
New Israel:

Flag: https://flag-designer.appspot.com/gwtflags/SvgFileService?d=2&c1=2&c2=0&c3=3&o=6&c4=1&s=1&c5=5

The state of New Israel is a small state that takes up part of the proposed states of. It's under control of the Authoritarian party, which is funded by the Central banks and Military Industrial Complex, and stayed in power through a series of rigging votes, bribes, blackmail, assassinations, and overall, corruption.

Its form of government is "commission form", in which a 3-member "commission", which is actually a triumvirate. Members are elected through a closed primary and partisan election, and are elected on a plurality-at-large basis. Members serve unlimited 6-year terms, appoint judges for life (the State Supreme Court has 3 members), and appoint a micromanaging bureaucracy with a spoils system.

County governments exists only at the will of the commission. They are ruled by a sole commissioner, who is elected through closed primaries and partisan first-past-the-post elections, and serve unlimited 6-year terms. County governments are responsible for less important functions that the state can care less about, being public services (low cost housing, waste disposal, street lighting), public works (highways, sewers, cemeteries, parking lots, etc), urban planning, zoning, building codes and other code enforcement. Many of the said functions are done through an appointed bureaucracy with a spoils system.

NI is the most authoritarian state in the union, with both the least personal and economic freedoms that are listed on http://www.freedominthe50states.org/how-its-calculated, and is the worst state for animal rights.

Animal rights are entirely nonexistent. Veterinarians are even prohibited from reporting suspected cruelty or fighting. And ag-gag laws are also in place to punish the recording of the treatment of animals on farms. The ownership and possession of animals is completely unregulated.

The income tax rate is 99.99%.

When it comes to what the state looks like, it takes up part of the real-world Texas panhandle and includes most of Amarillo, including the entire Pantex Plant. Much of the state occupies the northeast of the panhandle, and is where big oil companies operate:

Picture credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mid-continent_Oil_Field_map.png.

Due to the lack of economic freedom for average people but better treatment for mega corporations, most of the economy revolves around the military-industrial complex, big pharma, factory-farm agriculture, the prison-industrial complex, and big oil, in that exact order.
To give you an idea what kind of companies are based and operate in, visit these links (note that this article is fictional, but the information in the links are real):
http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com/companies.asp
https://www.drugwatch.com/manufacturer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Private_prisons_in_the_United_States .
I was about to link to big oil companies, but in reality, they aren't that big of a factor.