Politics & Government

Huff Calling for Reform of Regulations for Small Businesses

State Sen. Bob Huff's proposed law would require a review of 17,000 pages worth of laws governing small businesses to see if some of those hurdles could be eliminated.

Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, is calling for around 17,000 pages worth of state regulations governing businesses to be reviewed.

Huff, who represents Glendora, has introduced Senate Bill 396, which requires a system-wide review of the regulations.  The idea behind the measure would be to look at ways to clear some hurdles to promote business development and stimulate the economy, Huff said.

“I am encouraged that some of my Democratic colleagues appear to be serious about looking into regulatory reform,” Huff said in a press release. “In fact, I applaud the call by Senate Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg to review and streamline all of California’s regulations. This is the intent of my legislation and it’s my hope we can work together to make California a strong job creator.”

Find out what's happening in Diamond Bar-Walnutwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Under the proposed legislation, all state departments would be required to review regulations created before 1990 and provide the information to the Legislature so it could be analyzed.  The bill also would formulate a process for reviewing regulations every five years.

“We must never forget that business is the job-engine creator in California,” said Senator Huff. “Small business is California’s largest employer and it should be the State Legislature’s common interest to review and get rid of needless and senseless mandates that are crushing economic development. With more than two million Californians out of work, it’s time to shine a light on all regulations to see if they are helping or hurting.”

Find out what's happening in Diamond Bar-Walnutwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Huff cites a 2009 study authored by Sanjay B. Varshney, the dean of the business school at Cal Sate Sacramento and Dennis H. Tootelian, a marketing professor at the campus.  In the study, the professors found that the total cost of regulating small businesses in California totaled $492 billion and resulted in the lost of 3.8 million jobs.

 “Forbes Magazine ranks California as the 44th worst state to do business in,” said Senator Huff. “A recent survey of Chief Executive Officers ranks California’s business climate as dead last. We will never emerge from this recession unless steps are taken to ease the regulatory burden placed on our job creators.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here