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SACRAMENTO – In an editorial today, the San Jose Mercury News called on Senator Steinberg to turn CEQA reform bill SB 731 into something “worthwhile” and to bring all parties to the table during the negotiation process. The U-T San Diego also called on the legislature to enact reforms that would help stimulate the economy and spur job growth in California, such as reforms to CEQA. Excerpts from the editorials are below. Read the San Jose Mercury News editorial here and the U-T San Diego editorial here. The Mercury News and the U-T are just two of many newspapers throughout California that have editorialized in favor of meaningful CEQA reform this year.
San Jose Mercury News, Editorial, August 20, 2013, “CEQA reform bill doesn’t go far enough.”
- “Steinberg sponsored a measure, Senate Bill 731, that passed the Senate, but it falls far short. Unless it is substantially improved, the Assembly and Gov. Jerry Brown should reject it.”
- “…the law today is often used by NIMBYs to oppose development they don’t like, by businesses to prevent competition and by labor to pressure builders to use union workers.”
- “Encouraging infill is a priority of Steinberg’s and of ours, but that’s too narrow a focus. Other projects that help the environment should also be protected from trumped-up objections, including wind and solar farms in undeveloped areas. These projects are essential for the state to meet its aggressive greenhouse-gas reduction requirements.”
- “SB 731 won’t even do much of what he says he wants to accomplish.”
- “In the three weeks left in this legislative session, Steinberg needs to turn the bill into something worthwhile, even if it’s not as comprehensive as necessary. And everybody needs to be at the table.”
U-T San Diego, Editorial, August 18, 2013, “Fixing California: State’s unemployed face heartless indifference in Sacramento.”
- “…excessive state regulations hinder job creation and block economic growth.”
- “For more than two years, Senate President Darrell Steinberg has declared his firm support for ‘major regulatory relief.'”
- “Steinberg has won Senate passage of a narrow bill that alters the California Environmental Quality Act to shorten the review process for projects in highly developed neighborhoods. But its prospects are dim in the Assembly, and a recent report said Pérez was ‘not optimistic there will be any significant changes to CEQA this year.'”
- “A well-placed Pérez loyalist says the speaker is disappointed in the modesty of Steinberg’s proposals.”
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