SACRAMENTO — When state Sen. Scott Wiener revives his contentious bid to allow more small to medium-size apartment buildings around public transit and in wealthy suburbs, the San Francisco Democrat could have some hefty additional muscle behind his effort.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego have both affirmed in recent weeks their commitment to advancing some form of SB50 next year.

It’s one of several major housing debates likely to be back on the agenda when the state Legislature returns in January, after the biggest proposals to change zoning and planning laws and provide funding for affordable housing projects were either scaled back or fell short during the recently concluded session.

At a signing ceremony this month for a bill imposing a statewide rent cap, Newsom nodded to Wiener’s measure and said he would try to convince lawmakers that “they’re going to survive if they just come on over and help support a little bit more of an indulgence on the construction side of things.”

Newsom has never taken a position on SB50. But speaking to reporters in his Capitol office two days after the signing ceremony, the governor said he supported Wiener’s efforts to increase housing density, particularly around public transit.

“It’s a core value of mine, I imagine shared by the vast majority of progressives in this building and across the state of California,” Newsom said. “If we’re ever going to achieve our goals, our housing production, that’s how you achieve them.”

During his gubernatorial campaign last year, Newsom pledged that the state would build 3.5 million homes by 2025 — a rate far higher than what’s being added now. He has pushed to increase the regional housing construction targets that cities and counties must plan to meet, and created a process this summer to fine local governments that do not meet their obligations while rewarding those that make it easier to build.

Newsom noted that Wiener has failed over two years to get SB50 and a similar, earlier measure through the Legislature, despite making “dozens of amendments.” He said he would help the senator and legislative leaders to break that impasse.

“The reality is you can’t do it alone. And we’ve got to create the conditions where he can get his colleagues to support it. It is a math problem right now,” Newsom said. “We are trying to help with that process, and we’re trying to organize ourselves around that.”

Wiener said he’s been working on the bill since it was shelved in May, fine-tuning elements of the measure and talking to local planning departments to get technical feedback. Because it’s a holdover from the last session, it must pass the Senate by the end of January.

That will require the Senate Appropriations Committee, where the measure was sidelined, to advance it to the floor. Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), who chairs the committee, held SB50 because it wasn’t “the right fix at this time” to solve California’s housing crisis. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Housing bills that may return in 2020 SB50 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, aims to erase California’s housing deficit by increasing dense development. It would prevent cities from blocking small and medium-size apartment buildings near public transit and remake the suburbs by removing density limits in wealthy communities with good schools and access to jobs. It was held in committee in May. SB330 by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, put a five-year moratorium on some local policies that make it harder to build in communities without enough housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed the bill this month, said he wants to revisit provisions that were stripped out in the legislative process. That could include limits on fees and parking requirements. SB5 by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, would have created a process for cities to use local property tax revenue intended for schools to build affordable housing and other infrastructure projects. Newsom vetoed the bill, which carried a maximum annual price tag of $2 billion for the state, and said it should be considered in the budget process.

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The bill won the backing of labor and business groups, but faced enormous resistance from local governments, which worried about losing control over how their communities grow. It would override some local zoning by requiring cities to allow buildings at least four or five stories tall within a half mile of major transit stops, such as BART or Caltrain stations, and by removing density limits in wealthy communities with good schools and access to jobs.

“There will no doubt be some additional changes,” Wiener said, depending on what Newsom and Atkins ask for.

In an interview with San Diego’s KPBS-FM last month, Atkins said she would “be really involved in helping make” amendments the bill needs in order to pass. Her office declined to offer specifics.

Wiener said he plans to connect with the governor soon about what Newsom wants in SB50 so they will “be able lock arms and move this forward.”

“It’s a hard bill, but it’s not climbing Mount Everest,” Wiener said.

Newsom said that while SB50 has consumed the debate over building more housing, it’s “just one of many, many things that we’re looking at” to increase construction.

He said he wanted to revisit elements that were stripped out of SB330 by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, before it passed this year. That bill, which Newsom signed this month, puts a five-year moratorium on some local policies that make it harder to build in communities without enough housing. Other provisions limiting fees and parking requirements were removed because of opposition from local governments.

Newsom also said “issues of redevelopment remain open.” Redevelopment agencies enabled cities and counties to redirect property taxes from blighted neighborhoods into projects to improve those areas. The state made up the revenue. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown eliminated the agencies in 2011 in response to state budget deficits and widespread local abuses.

Local governments have been eager for a replacement, because redevelopment was one of their main sources of funding for affordable housing. Newsom has been pushing since he took office to create a new system to finance housing and infrastructure improvements.

“I know people still want that state contribution at the local level. So we’re pursuing potential strategies for that as well,” he said.

Despite that, the governor vetoed a bill this month, SB5, that would have let cities use local property tax revenue intended for schools to build affordable housing, develop projects around public transit and upgrade infrastructure to be more resilient against the effects of climate change.

It would have set aside state money — up to $200 million in 2021, increasing to a maximum of $2 billion by 2030 — to compensate schools for the tax revenue they would lose. Sen. Jim Beall, the San Jose Democrat who carried the bill, said it would have been a more reliable solution than figuring out a source of housing money each year. In his first budget, Newsom offered a one-time funding boost for tax credits, loans and infrastructure projects for affordable housing.

“Legislation with such a significant fiscal impact needs to be part of budget deliberations so that it can be considered in light of other priorities,” Newsom wrote in his veto message.

That earned a rebuke from Beall, who warned that Newsom was putting “thousands of people in danger of becoming homeless.”

“What more does this administration need to pass a housing bill that would actually get roofs over Californians’ heads?” he said in a statement.

Beall said in an interview that he planned to try again next year. He said it was not fair for Newsom to raise housing targets for cities without giving them the resources to reach those goals. Land has gotten so expensive in the Bay Area, he said, that affordable-housing developers can’t compete.

“It’s not credible to have programs that demand more things of cities without having more skin in the game,” Beall said. “It’s a partnership.”

He said Newsom’s predecessors Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger got their ideas through the Legislature because they developed relationships with lawmakers. Newsom, he said, needs to work more with legislators who may have different housing plans from his.

“He has to get involved personally more,” Beall said.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff