Oregon is about to embark on an expensive experiment in trying to solve the riddle of homelessness.

A $200 million experiment.

A big chunk of money.

But then it’s a big problem.

State officials estimate there are 12,000 Oregonians who are living without shelter.

A majority of those are in 10 counties west of the Cascades, including the Portland metro area. But no county is immune.

On Wednesday, March 15, the Oregon House of Representatives, with support of all 35 Democrats — and most Republicans, including Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, whose district includes Grant County — passed two bills, House Bill 5019 and House Bill 2001, designed to expand homeless shelter capacity, offer rental subsidies, and spur the construction of subsidized housing.

The state Senate is slated to vote on the two bills this week.

The version of the spending bill — HB 5019 — that the House approved is a substantial improvement over the original version based on Gov. Tina Kotek’s request.

Kotek proposed $130 million for the 10 counties with larger homeless populations.

But legislators added $70 million to the package, including $27 million for the state’s 26 other counties, including rural areas.

“Homelessness is not an urban problem. It’s an Oregon problem,” said Rep. David Gomberg, a Democrat from the central coast and House co-chair of the budget subcommittee that crafted the funding package. “We are working here today to bring support to address the scourge of homelessness to all parts of Oregon.”

Gomberg is correct.

Much of the money would be allocated soon after Kotek signs the bill, probably before the end of March, rather than waiting until the fiscal year starts July 1.

That’s appropriate.

The sooner the money is available, the sooner Oregonians will see whether spending such significant sums can partially alleviate the homeless issue.

Or to put it more succinctly, will building places for homeless people to live actually result in those people leaving the streets?

Rep. E. Werner Reschke, a Klamath Falls Republican who was one of 10 lawmakers to vote against House Bill 5019, called for the House to delay a decision on the bill until after the May 17 revenue forecast.

Morever, Reschke questioned the efficacy of spending $200 million.

“My contention is that this problem will never be solved by spending on homelessness to oblivion without also addressing root causes,” he said.

Kotek, though, has insisted that any homeless strategy should start with helping people get into housing, which would make it easier for them to get treated for mental health and substance abuse problems.

The overriding questions are how many homeless residents will move into state-subsidized housing, and for those who do, how many will use the opportunity to get into permanent housing that, ideally, doesn’t require public aid.

This is a much more complicated task than simply building structures and watching homeless residents walk through the front door.

There are myriad reasons why people live without shelter, and some — including mental health and addiction — can’t be solved by erecting apartments or adding on to shelters.

But it also seems clear that public dollars are necessary to achieve even a partial solution to this problem.

Oregon lawmakers are on the brink of committing those dollars.

Their constituents will no doubt be watching in the months and years ahead to see what those dollars can accomplish.