After years of just chipping away at Hawai'i's affordable housing crisis, the Legislature must now show a strong commitment to actively dealing with the problem.

That means finding the funds and the political will to begin to significantly address this crucial issue.

Fortunately, there are a number of proposals at the Legislature with elements that could be combined to make a sensible omnibus housing package.

House Bill 668 appropriates $180 million to be split among the Rental Housing Trust Fund, the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund and the state's Low-Income Housing Revolving Fund. (That goes even further than Gov. Linda Lingle's proposal for a $100 million cash infusion to be shared between the Rental Housing Trust Fund and the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund).

Other ideas that also should be part of any final omnibus package include: increasing the share of the conveyance tax that goes to the Rental Housing Trust Fund to 65 percent (HB150); providing more funds to support homeless shelters and social support systems (SB 1917); and using general obligation bonds, similar to what was done in California, to fund new affordable housing construction (SB 1917). California voters recently adopted Proposition 1C, a measure that allowed the state to sell $2.9 billion in general obligation bonds to fund public housing for low-income residents.

The use of special purpose revenue bonds — a low-cost bond floated by developers for construction — and a state low-income housing tax credit that can be used in conjunction with federal credits are components of other bills that should also be explored.

Safeguards also should be in place to prevent any housing funds from being raided for other needs, as has been the case in the past.

Taken together, these ideas would represent a solid start. And with thousands of people living in shelters or on our beaches — and thousands more so perilously close to the edge — the time to act is now.