{"id":58,"date":"2026-05-16T04:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=58"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:35:38","slug":"legislature-looks-to-add-workforce-housing-to-alaska-development-agencys-priority-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=58","title":{"rendered":"Legislature looks to add workforce housing to Alaska development agency\u2019s priority list"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Alaska Legislature wants the state\u2019s development agency to finance new apartment complexes and other multifamily housing.<\/p>\n

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House Bill 184 passed the Senate in a 17-3 vote Friday after clearing the House in February. It gives the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority explicit legal grounds to finance what the bill calls \u201cworkforce housing facilities of three or more units.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Forrest Dunbar, an Anchorage Democrat, says it\u2019s an effort to address a problem local governments and businesses have raised to lawmakers repeatedly: the high cost and short supply of housing in Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are relatively few levers that the state government can pull to spur housing construction and deal with housing affordability,\u201d Dunbar told fellow senators. \u201cThis is one of those levers that’s not in the hands of the local government, but in our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Builders and developers said during committee hearings that financing backed by AIDEA in partnership with local banks would fill an urgent need holding back new housing projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if a project makes sense on paper, traditional lenders aren’t always able to carry them, especially in smaller or constrained markets,\u201d Victor Banaszak, the owner of a Juneau construction business and the president of a local construction trade group, told lawmakers at a hearing in April.<\/p>\n

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Officials with AIDEA, meanwhile, told lawmakers that the agency believed it already had the power to build workforce housing. And as of mid-April, the agency said it didn\u2019t have any pending applications for multifamily housing projects. Another state housing agency, the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., also finances multifamily projects, which make up about 10% of its portfolio, the agency told lawmakers.<\/p>\n

The bill passed with all present members of the House and Senate\u2019s bipartisan majority coalitions in support, plus a handful of minority Republicans. Sen. Robert Yundt, a Wasilla Republican and a homebuilder, supported the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in the long run, whatever it takes to make housing more affordable for Alaskans, I’m going to support,\u201d Yundt said.<\/p>\n

Opponents in the House, where the bill passed 23-15, said they were concerned adding housing to AIDEA\u2019s portfolio would divert resources from the agency\u2019s other priorities, including resource development. The three Republicans who voted against the bill in the Senate did not explain their votes on the floor.<\/p>\n

Changes in the Senate reduced the minimum size of an AIDEA-financed housing project from five units to three. The bill\u2019s main sponsor, Juneau Democratic Rep. Andi Story, said Friday she expected the House to concur with the Senate\u2019s changes and send the bill to the governor. The constitutional deadline for the end of this year\u2019s regular legislative session is Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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House Bill 184 gives the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority explicit legal grounds to finance housing projects with three or more units.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLegislature looks to add workforce housing to Alaska development agency\u2019s priority list - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=58\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legislature looks to add workforce housing to Alaska development agency\u2019s priority list - 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