SACRAMENTO, Calif. (NEWSnet/AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments.

Newsom’s order is aimed at the thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state that line freeways, clutter shopping center parking lots and fill city parks. The order makes clear that the decision to remove the encampments remains in local hands.

The order comes after a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this summer allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.

The case was the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. are without a permanent place to live.

While Newsom cannot order local authorities to act, his administration can apply pressure by withholding money for counties and cities.

California is home to roughly one-third of the nation’s population of homeless people.

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