Democrats offer bill to toss out regulations
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Seeking business support for extending state taxes, Democratic lawmakers are offering a plan to finally address a major private-sector grievance: Red tape.
The 28,000-page California Code of Regulations fills 34 binders and weighs 270 pounds. Business groups have long complained that so many rules stifle economic development in the state, and in the past, Democratic lawmakers have been slow to move on their concerns.
But on Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and two other lawmakers announced legislation designed to root out outdated and unnecessary regulations and create a one-stop permitting process for business. State agencies would be asked to report back within 180 days on which state regulations are duplicative or unreasonable and should be stricken.
‘California ought to be about reaching out and encouraging businesses to come to this state,’ Steinberg said at a news conference at the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Steinberg denied the legislation was a political ploy. But with the state facing an unparalleled budget crisis, Democrats have a pressing strategic interest in winning support from the business community and moderate voters for a summer ballot measure planned by Gov. Jerry Brown to address the shortfall. The measure would extend for five years some taxes now set to expire.
Steinberg’s bill got a tentative nod from the Sacramento chamber’s president, Matthew Mahood. Meaningful reform of state regulations may persuade his group and other business organizations to support the ballot measure, Mahood said.
But Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the California Republican Party, panned the effort, saying Steinberg and Sen. Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills, who has also signed on to the bill, lack credibility. The pair ‘built their careers by crafting job-crushing regulations that have kept California’s economy at a virtual standstill,’ he said, adding: ‘The Democrats’ plan has all the credibility of a Charlie Sheen ‘Just Say No’ campaign.’
-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento
