This editorial recently appeared in the Longview, Wash., Daily News.

The Senate’s so-called “fair share health care” legislation to force companies with at least 5,000 employees to put 9 percent of their payroll toward health benefits or pay the difference to the state is dead. It died in the House when Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, wisely refused to bring it up for a vote before a legislative deadline.

That’s good.

Not so encouraging was Gov. Chris Gregoire’s pledge to members of the Washington State Labor Council to bring back the proposal next year and pass it. The governor conceded that she has some concerns about the current bill. But she apparently thinks the legislation can be “perfected” with just a little work.

“If we didn’t get it this year, we’re going to get it next year. Let’s work together to make it happen,” Gregoire told an enthusiastic group of labor council members.

There is plenty of work to be done on the state’s health care delivery system. Skyrocketing medical costs are a huge concern, accounting for about 30 percent of state spending. Medicaid simply is not sustainable. The program is draining the state treasury and still the state is unable to meet the soaring demand for Medicaid assistance.

But let’s be clear.

This “fair share” mandate that the Senate bill would impose on large employers in no way, shape or form qualifies as health care reform. It would do nothing to control medical costs or make health care more accessible for working Washingtonians.

It is simply an idea promoted by national labor unions to humble Wal-Mart and selected other employers that have incurred organized labor’s wrath. Maryland is the one state in which sponsors have had success, with a law that imposes an 8 percent payroll tax on companies that employ 10,000 or more workers.

A Washington Post editorial aptly characterized the bill as “a legislative mugging masquerading as an act of benevolent social engineering.”

What passage of a similar mandate here would do is defeat Washington’s best efforts to build a reputation as a good place to do business.

While the proposal now is narrowly drafted to target perhaps 20 large employers in the state, who’s to say such a mandate wouldn’t be expanded to smaller businesses?

There is no upside to this misguided proposal.

The legislation met the end it deserved this session. The governor should let it rest in peace.