Being a state legislator is an honor and a privilege – but it also carries a heavy dose of responsibility. Lawmakers are facing dozens of major decisions this legislative session, from creating a new two-year budget to solving our state’s health care crisis.

As the lead Republican on the House of Representatives’ Commerce and Labor Committee, I take seriously my responsibility to make Washington a more welcoming place for businesses – a place where we can create jobs and help families keep those jobs in our state. To achieve that goal we need to move forward with many serious changes, including cutting government red tape and maintaining the stability to our state workers’ compensation program.

But what we don’t need to do – and what won’t help at all with job creation – is spend our time and energy injecting government into a process that’s working just fine without public interference. Especially when the end game is not better policy, but politics.

House Bill 1875, which had a hearing recently in the House, is just such a bill. It would regulate how trade and professional organizations manage state-approved workers’ compensation pools, called retrospective rating – or retro – programs.

Retro programs work like this: Employers can voluntarily join an association’s retro program to share risk, increase safety and reduce industrial insurance costs. If the association runs the program effectively, members’ premiums can exceed losses and the association receives a refund of the money it collected. Some of the refund goes back to employers, but the association may keep a percentage as an administrative fee based on its agreement with retro members. Some associations use a portion of those refunds to support political causes that benefit members.

So what’s the major problem that requires a legislative fix? There isn’t one. Is the voluntary program working well? Yes. Are employers complaining? No. Is it costing taxpayers money, or costing jobs? No. The program’s only offense is that a portion of the refund can be used on whatever the association desires, including political free speech.

House Bill 1875, along with a companion bill in the Senate, would shut that down by limiting use of any refunds – paid by private employers, not taxpayers – to a list of government-approved activities, and that list doesn’t include political free speech. The bill would also let the Department of Labor and Industries regularly inspect and review records of the retro association and private employers to make sure they comply with the new restrictions. If passed, this bill would give associations less incentive to operate the program, which may cause it to collapse and jeopardize worker safety. It could also increase workers’ compensation rates across the board, aggravating an already challenging business climate.

House Bill 1875 is the second bill introduced this year aimed at putting the brakes on the retro program under the guise of better public policy. The first bill, HB 1070, arrived to public outcry. Now we have a second bill that would achieve virtually the same result.

This bill is, pure and simple, an attempt by government to tell private entities how to use their own money. And it’s wrong. As legislators, we should be spending our time finding solutions to the real problems at hand, not fixing something that isn’t broken. If we keep that in mind, good public policy will win out over politics every time.

(Editor’s Note: Rep. Condotta represents the 12th Legislative District, which includes Chelan and Douglas counties and parts of Grant and Okanogan counties. He is the lead Republican on the House Commerce and Labor Committee.He is also the owner of an motorsports dealership in Wenatchee.).