I-1029 – Vote NO

Seattle Times: No
Post Intelligencer: No

This measure would require long-term care workers to be certified as home care aides based on an examination, with exceptions; increase training and criminal background check requirements; and establish disciplinary standards and procedures.

Vote No if you want the Legislature to take care of this in a more cost-effective manner, vote Yes if you want to improve the finances of the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

This initiative sounds good, but similar to Tim Eyman’s proposal, you need to know all the facts before voting. It does sound funny to think government could do a more cost effective job, but I am real suspicious of the sponsors of this initiative. From the PI Editorials:

I-1029 would load up the expenses and worsen Washington's serious budget problems…The better alternative is to let the Legislature pass a smarter bill, which already is in waiting. I-1029 is, in fact, a my-way-or-the-highway substitute for good legislation that was sailing into law before the powerful Service Employees International Union intervened to strike fear of lost campaign support in cowardly lawmakers.

After leading a state task force on the issue, Democratic Rep. Dawn Morrell -- a registered nurse who knows the issues well -- wrote a bill that passed the House of Representatives 95-0. It would have provided new training in a smarter, targeted, cheaper way, which was designed to help workers advance into nursing assistant and even nursing training. A similar version went through the Senate 47-2, but the SEIU had the clout to keep lawmakers from finishing work so the union could run its initiative.

I-1029 sounds good, and the idea behind it is absolutely necessary. But manipulating the process to thwart good lawmaking is completely wrong. Reject I-1029 and let Morrell and the Legislature finish their good work on the cause.