By Jonathan Bach | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Salem’s Democratic supermajority finds itself in a double bind as lawmakers weigh a bill intended to lower the cost of building affordable apartments.

If they approve Senate Bill 1566 — brought forward by the ranking Republican lawmaker on the Senate housing committee to address the high cost of publicly subsidized apartment construction — they’ll alienate trade unions that spend heavily for Democrats during election season.

If they ignore the bill, they skip a chance to do what housing policy analysts, and even state agency Oregon Housing and Community Services, say is necessary to build more affordable housing: lower construction costs.

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