HUNTINGTON BEACH : State Seen Trying to Stem Business Flight

State Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) on Monday told the City Council that state government is working to halt the flow of businesses from California.

Councilman Don MacAllister told her that he is concerned about tax revenue lessening as businesses flee the state. “The thing I seem to hear wherever I go is that the state of California is anti-business,” he said.

Bergeson said she agrees that the flight of businesses is a major problem and said state government is trying to find ways to keep more businesses and industries from leaving.

“Part of the problem is the morass of regulations on businesses,” she said. “But even as we try to deal with the problem more laws are passed and some of these become redundant and insidious.”

She said that finding affordable housing for workers is a major problem for businesses in California. “When people work in businesses in Orange County but have to live in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, it causes problems for everyone,” she said. Bergeson said many cities are not concerned about developing more low-cost housing. “With affordable housing we find a lot of NIMBYism,” she said, referring to the acronym Not In My Back Yard. “You won’t find many people coming to a City Council urging affordable housing, but you’ll find a lot of them coming to the council and saying, ‘Don’t put it in my back yard.’ ”

In addition to encouraging more affordable housing, Bergeson said the state will be making efforts to streamline business regulation so that it is not excessive or redundant.

Bergeson came to the council meeting to discuss the state’s continuing budget crisis. Among other comments, she predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court will not overturn California’s Proposition 13, the 1978 landmark initiative that puts a lid on property taxes.

“Maybe I’m being optimistic but I think the court will uphold the law,” she said.