Top Democratic lawmakers on Monday began pushing a sweeping new plan to overhaul the long-debated way New Jersey regulates the construction of affordable housing, saying the state can serve more people with an updated system.

The 68-page bill attempts to tackle one of the most complex government issues in the nation’s most densely populated state — and one of its most expensive places to live. But Democrats who control the state Legislature appear to be making it a big priority in the lame-duck legislative session that ends in just three weeks.