Thirty-First

Politicians are NOT business professionals.

Regulating businesses to leave California

Almost 400,000 regulatory restrictions

California businesses are leaving the state in droves. In just 2018 and 2019, economic boom years, 765 commercial facilities left California. This exodus doesnt count Charles Schwabs announcement to leave San Francisco next year. Nor does it include the 13,000 estimated businesses to have left between 2009 and 2016.

The reason? Economics, plain and simple. California is too expensive, and its taxes and regulations are too high. The Tax Foundation ranks California 48th in terms of business climate. California is also ranked 48th in terms of regulatory burdens. And Californias cost of living is 50 percent higher than the national average.

Regulatory policy is even more of a problem for the state than fiscal policy. California is the most regulated state in the U.S., according to an analysis of state regulations conducted by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

The 2019 California Code of Regulations (CCR) has 395,129 restrictions and 21.2 million words. It would take roughly 1,176 hours, or more than 29 weeks, to read them all assuming a pace of reading 300 words a minute in a 40 hour-week.

The ten most regulated industries are Title 24 of the CCR, the Building Standards Code, with 75,712 restrictions, Title 8, Industrial Relations, with 51,139 restrictions, Title 22 Social Security with 48,745 restrictions, Title 14 Natural Resources with 30,000 restrictions, Title 13 Motor Vehicles with 20,057 restrictions, Title 10 Investment with 19,578 restrictions, Title 17 Public Health with 19,007 restrictions, Title 16 Professional and Vocational Regulations with 16,015 restrictions, Title 2 administration with 14,356 restrictions, and Title 25 Housing and Community Development with 12,204 restrictions.

Californias large regulatory burden makes it more difficult to start a business in the state, and more costly to run it once the company has been established.

An important and often overlooked factor is that politicians now have personal agendas that they aim to impose on other Californians, often without transparency or accountability.

How do we address this problem?

Lets bring in businesses, both small and large, to work together with the goal of dismantling this massive mess of regulatory restrictions as their priority.

Lets establish a system that regulates business in a manner that benefits our citizens, not the agenda of politicians.

Lets give business the opportunity to grow and prosper, while employing citizens and giving them the opportunity to earn a living wage with benefits.