Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a package of legislation to ease California's housing crunch, answering years of calls for a strong state response to skyrocketing home prices and rents.
The bills signed Friday combine new funding for housing construction with new rules to streamline the development process.
"It is a big challenge. We have risen to it this year," said Brown, who put his signature on what he called "15 good bills" at a ceremony in San Francisco's Hunters Point neighborhood.
New funding for housing construction, rental assistance and homeless programs will come from a housing bond (if voters approve it next year) and a fee on certain real estate transactions, like a mortgage refinancing.
Streamlining rules will make it harder for local governments to block certain housing developments, if they have failed to meet previous goals for approving units.
![Gov. Jerry Brown stands with state lawmakers in San Francisco after signing a package of housing legislation on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017.](https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/09/HousingSigning-800x546.jpg)
"We gotta figure out a way to streamline, and we're doing that in these bills," Brown added. He said government needs to subsidize housing in markets where prices have spiraled out of control.