After all, the state is awash in a $1.7 billion revenue surplus, so why should Washington County be kept on the hook for a paltry $6 million?

Here are a few good reasons:

The 14,000 children without health insurance and thousands of poor, disabled and elderly Medicaid patients who need dental work. Those who have waited many years on the Division of Services for People With Disabilities Waiting List for help with housing, job training and daily care. Also, Utah's disadvantaged preschoolers who could benefit from all-day kindergarten.

The $6 million could meet or come close to meeting the immediate needs of each of these groups.

Then there is the precedent the Legislature would be setting if it were to forgive Washington County's debt when the state is experiencing good economic times. What happens when the next beneficiaries of the disaster-loan fund want the same deal and there is no budget surplus?

The statute enacted in 2005 that set up a $25 million fund for loans to communities hit by natural or man-caused disasters made a lot of sense. Then it was changed last year to forgive the interest owed on Washington County's $18 million loan. That bit of charity was acceptable, but House Bill 176 to wipe the slate clean goes too far.

The loan fund is a way for the state to help communities get through rough times, but it was not meant to provide no-strings-attached gifts. Washington County officials haven't asked the state to forgive the loan, except through House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, their state representative, who is sponsoring HB176. The debtor communities appear able to meet their obligation, since they have repaid nearly $12 million already.

It would be a nice gesture to free these communities from their debt, if Utah didn't have other underfunded commitments. But we can't afford a nice gesture for some at the expense of others who are going without basic necessities and have no place else to turn.