Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers scaled back a law that was vilified for its role in California’s housing shortage and homelessness crisis.

Gov. Newsom signed into law a bill that will remake California’s environmental protection rules. Newsom says the overhaul is essential to address the state’s housing shortage and homelessness crisis.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, lagging far behind his campaign pledge to build millions more homes, signed Monday evening the most significant rollback in decades to California’s core environmental law that’s long been blamed for construction delays and soaring prices that have increasingly put housing out of reach for the state’s residents.