the state can fund apartments

And that could mean more places to rent.

Lawmakers just cleared a bill that lets the state's main investment agency help pay to build apartments. Until now, that agency mostly backed big resource and energy projects. This opens the door for it to finance housing too.

The bill targets what it calls workforce housing, basically apartment buildings of three or more units. The original version set the floor at five units. The Senate dropped it to three, which makes smaller Valley and Interior projects easier to pencil out.

The reason is simple. We don't have enough places to live, and what we do have keeps getting more expensive.

More state backing means more apartment projects can actually get built across Anchorage, the Valley, and Fairbanks. For anyone renting right now, or any builder sitting on a stalled project, this is the kind of move that slowly loosens a tight market.