California Construction News staff writer
Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest budget update is doubling down on chopping California’s permitting delays, with a new push to speed up housing and infrastructure development across the state. The May Budget Revision includes a legislative proposal aimed at streamlining approvals and clearing long-standing regulatory roadblocks that have slowed construction for decades.
The plan includes measures to shorten permitting timelines, ease regulations like CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), and offer new financing tools to support high-density infill and transit-friendly projects. It also calls out the need to make Coastal Commission permitting as fast and predictable as other agencies — a key move for builders looking to add housing in high-demand coastal areas.
“To meet California’s housing goals, we need certainty, accountability, and smarter land use — not endless delays,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re done with barriers. Let’s get this built.”
It’s an attempt to tackle long-standing permitting issues that have stalled job sites and driven up costs. Newsom’s plan would:
- Streamline Coastal Commission approvals, aligning them with other state agencies to speed up project timelines in coastal areas.
- Support infill and transit-oriented development, helping move projects forward that reduce traffic and emissions while building in urban cores.
- Promote regulatory certainty, giving builders a clearer path to get shovels in the ground.
- Introduce new financing tools, tying funding to vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reductions to help fund sustainable housing projects.
California has set an ambitious target: planning for more than 2.5 million new homes in the current housing cycle, including at least one million affordable units. That’s more than double the goal from the previous cycle.
Since taking office, Newsom has signed 42 housing-related CEQA reforms and committed major funding to help local governments meet their housing goals. But overlapping regulations continue to slow the pace of building — a challenge this new proposal is designed to fix.
By cutting through red tape and aligning land use decisions with climate goals, the May Revision could open the door to more predictable project pipelines and faster timelines — exactly what California needs to meet demand and keep the construction industry moving.
The full details are expected to be negotiated with the Legislature as part of the final budget package this summer.
