Patrick: Mass. Overhauling Business Regulations

Gov. Deval Patrick says his administration has streamlined or eliminated dozens of regulations affecting small businesses as part of what he calls the largest overhaul of the state rules in 15 years.

Patrick told a business group Monday that he wants to eliminate unnecessary barriers to doing business in Massachusetts.

The governor said some 2,000 regulations will be reviewed by the end of 2013. Of the 200 looked at so far, he said 41 have been eliminated while 107 others were streamlined.

In the case of food manufacturing, 10 separate regulations will be rolled into one.

In the future, assistant Secretary of Economic Development April Anderson Lamoureux said state agencies will be required to examine all proposed regulations to determine if they'll add more costs or red tape for small business.