To win support for tax extension, Democrats propose streamlining California regulations

Hoping to get business interests to support a tax extension, Democratic lawmakers moved Wednesday to address a major grievance of the private sector by stripping outdated, unnecessary rules from California’s 28,000 pages of regulations.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and two other legislators announced a proposal that would have state agencies review their regulations and recommend those to be stricken. The measure also would create a one-stop permitting process for businesses.

“California ought to be about reaching out and encouraging businesses to come to this state,” Steinberg said at a news conference at the headquarters of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.

He and Democratic Sens. Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills and Ron Calderon of Montebello stood behind a table holding 34 binders containing the 270-pound California Code of Regulations.

Chamber President Matthew Mahood said that if the state does undertake meaningful reform of its rules, his group and other business organizations may support a proposed ballot measure that would extend higher taxes and fees for five years to help balance the budget.

Not everyone was buying what Steinberg was selling.

“The Democrats’ plan has all the credibility of a Charlie Sheen ‘Just Say No’ campaign,” said Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the California Republican Party. “It’s their attempt at revisionist history, and no amount of promises or props can change the fact that Sens. Steinberg and Pavley built their careers by crafting job-crushing regulations that have kept California’s economy at a virtual standstill.”

Pavley said she believes state regulations can be streamlined, but the legislation announced Wednesday would bar any change that would undermine the state’s rules protecting the environment and public health.

The lawmakers cited as examples of regulations that warrant scrutiny two overlapping rules involving emissions from diesel trucks and old fire maps that could erroneously affect insurance rates in Southern California.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com