Articulating the case for SB50, state Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill to legalize apartment construction near mass transit and jobs, a knowledgeable observer noted last week that “local municipalities like Palo Alto are incapable of solving the housing crisis. ... When local governments cannot, or will not, solve a problem of regional or state concern, then that is precisely when the state government should step in.”

This critique did not come from a self-interested developer, Sacramento bureaucrat or outside agitator. Palo Alto’s own newly elected mayor, Adrian Fine, wrote it in a letter to Wiener, D-San Francisco, noting that he was speaking from experience as a Palo Alto native and city planner who has served four years on the City Council and three more on the city’s planning and transportation commissions. As if to prove his point, Fine’s council colleagues responded by taking him to task for having the temerity to support housing on city stationery.

So far, the state Legislature hasn’t been much more receptive to SB50 than the Palo Alto City Council, having bottled up different iterations of the bill for two consecutive years. Last week, however, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, extricated the legislation from the committee that blocked it last time around, giving the latest version more hope of emerging from the chamber ahead of a procedural deadline next week. “While many communities still have clear concerns about SB 50,” Atkins said in a statement, “our affordable housing crisis demands we make every attempt to reach agreement on potential solutions.” Gov. Gavin Newsom has also offered qualified support for the measure.

With California’s anemic housing production persisting amid a deep shortage, soaring prices and mounting homelessness, the need for statewide zoning reform on the order of SB50 is plain. The governor and the Legislature’s commitment to dealing with the crisis should be judged by the bill’s progress.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.