It's hard for big-government supporters to believe, but sometimes government inaction is better than a government misstep.

That's the approach we in the General Assembly have taken to the home mortgage crisis, believing that big-government intervention can make a bad situation worse.

In the late 1970s, because of something known as "redlining," in which some banks discriminated against certain neighborhoods, Congress passed legislation that led to the easing of restrictions of lending for home loans.

As a result, government programs pushed to make loans and products available to high-risk borrowers through HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

To compete, banks and brokers got in on the act, making loans available to those who might not qualify. But at the same time, some economists say borrowers were not truthful about their income to qualify for homes they really couldn't afford. That is one place where Georgia could consider a small regulation in the future — requiring lenders to verify the income of applicants.

But today we have a national mortgage crisis that is just showing signs of correcting itself. Consumers who are in default, however, must be held accountable for contracts they signed. It isn't the responsibility of Georgia taxpayers to provide funds to bail them out because they didn't budget wisely.

Georgia consumers who faithfully make their mortgage payments, who haven't drawn on their equity for lavish trips or fancy cars, and who continue to have good credit should not have to bail out those who never should have been given a home loan in the first place.

Some may raise questions because some members of the General Assembly are members of bank boards, founded banks or represent financial institutions. But we also have lawmakers who are attorneys or insurance representatives or are in the construction industry. Since we are a citizen legislature, we have other full-time jobs. We bring that expertise from our professional lives to the General Assembly, but that doesn't keep the insurance broker from having an open mind on insurance matters or teachers from being objective about education policy. It also doesn't impede some of us on the lending industry.

Georgia lawmakers would have set a dangerous precedent if they had tried to react to this national problem. It would have been interference in the home loan industry. The next expectation would have been to help those with trouble making their car payments or the note on their new furniture. That's just not government's role.

Personal responsibility cannot stand between consumers and their sometimes painful reality. By state government doing nothing, it is really doing something.

State Rep. Calvin Hill, a Republican from Canton, is vice chairman of the Banks and Banking committee. He is a director of the Cherokee Bank.