And so, in a stunning failure of leadership on all fronts, it comes to this: the necessity for extending the legislative session.

It appears the Legislature is poised to adjourn today without coming to terms on the most critical funding decision in many years. Honolulu’s rail project is short something approaching $3 billion to be completed, as planned, to Ala Moana Center.

Simply allowing this project to die would be an untenable failure by elected leaders, who appear to be dug in rather than thinking about the best interest of the communities that the rail project will serve. As a magnet for transit-oriented development, including affordable housing, and as the basis of a multimodal transportation network, the rail project is irreplaceable.

Without a credible financial recovery plan, though, Honolulu risks losing the rest of its $1.55 billion federal subsidy, perhaps even having to repay what’s been spent. The Federal Transit Administration needs to see solid local commitment, which so far has not been evident at the state Capitol.

It’s lacking from Gov. David Ige as well, who said in a lackluster news conference Wednesday that he would not lengthen the session without an agreement between the House and Senate.

As this week began, the official conference-committee funding proposal was a flawed measure that tapped an alternative funding source, the transient accommodations tax (TAT). That was an improperly vetted scheme, but as the only one with the backing of the House majority, it appeared the sole rescue plan for the project, albeit a last-ditch option.

However, all subsequent options are currently in the same ditch, with each chamber of the Legislature blowing up the proposal of the opposing side on Tuesday. The chaotic eleventh-hour wrangling over what should have been a thorough and transparent debate has left the Capitol compelled to extend the session so a workable solution can be found.

So now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser will reassert its ongoing preference for the general excise tax (GET) surcharge as the most stable and effective funding mechanism. Lawmakers are urged today to maintain the current course by enacting the most practical solution on the table: accepting the Senate proposal to extend the GET surcharge for another 10 years, through 2037, with the state taking 1 percent.

This is without a doubt the cleanest way to close the funding gap, with no constitutional issues.

By contrast, the House’s latest vehicle — a 1 percent bump in the TAT for 11 years and 1-year GET extension — is problematic, mostly because of its add-on conditions. For example, the House would demand that the city postpone a planned Neal Blaisdell Center redevelopment project it considers to be fiscally unwise.

That caveat already has drawn criticism for violating home-rule provisions of the state Constitution. Whatever they end up doing, legislators should not choose a “solution” that will cause even more litigation than this project already has endured.

In addition, the House proposal would mandate an enormous diversion of funds from the city operating budget, requiring more city taxes or fees to avert a devastating cut in services.

One problem with overreliance on the TAT is that it is a much more volatile source of funds, rising and falling more erratically with changing economic conditions.

The commitment to complete rail, about half built, needs to come today. Once tempers cool and the smoke clears, lawmakers should not look back on 2017 as the year when political gamesmanship overcame good judgment, and the right decision, on behalf of Oahu’s people.