Article by Erik Smith. Published on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 EST.

Would Have Reaffirmed Controversial Home Care Training Program – Not Needed Now, Union Says

By Erik Smith

Staff writer/ Washington State Wire

OLYMPIA, April 27.—A new initiative filed by the Service Employees International Union has caused a bit of headscratching at the statehouse, but the union says never mind – it’s not going through with it.

            Initiative 1097 demonstrates that the union was planning to ask voters to re-approve the program this fall. But when legislators decided not to block it this year, the union decided the campaign wasn’t worth it.

The measure, filed initially on April 6, asks voters to reaffirm a home-care training program that was launched by another voter initiative in 2008. It also mandates raises for state-paid Medicaid workers who complete the training program, and might have provided the union an end-run around a recent Supreme Court ruling.

            But in an email, union spokesman Adam Glickman said the initiative is a no-go, and SEIU won’t be collecting signatures to place the measure on the ballot. When the union submitted the initiative to state elections officials, there was a strong possibility that the Legislature might delay the implementation of I-1029, as it did last year, or even repeal it entirely. But lawmakers took no action before they finished their session April 12. That means that the home care training requirements will be imposed July 1.

            “We have no intention of gathering signatures,” Glickman said. “We filed it when it was not clear what the resolution on that issue was going to be.”

            Imposes Training Requirement

The 2008 ballot measure has been a matter of controversy for some time. It imposes a 75-hour training requirement on workers who provide in-home care, including those who work in adult family homes, those who work for home-care agencies, those who are paid by the state through Medicaid programs and even independent souls who tack up cards on local supermarket bulletin boards. It directs state agencies to devise a training program in conjunction with labor representatives, though other programs may also be made available.

            The union financed the ballot campaign with nearly $1 million in contributions. It contends that standards need to be strengthened to prevent abuse of the elderly and infirm, and to ensure quality care. But critics say it’s a barrier to entry that will cost private-sector workers some $1,400 a head in order for them to retain low-paying jobs. The state will defray training for those on the public payroll — those positions are union jobs.

            I-960 Debate Scuttles Postponement Drive

Last year, in the middle of one of the Legislature’s worst-ever budget crises, Republicans and Democrats joined in a rare two-thirds vote to postpone implementation of an initiative immediately after passage. The state didn’t have the money, lawmakers explained.

            They considered doing the same thing this year, but a bill sponsored by state Rep. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla went nowhere, largely because of political considerations. Because less than two years had elapsed since the initiative took effect, Republican votes again would have been required to postpone the initiative. But Republicans had raised a fuss when Democrats overturned another initiative by a majority vote – I-960, which made it all but impossible to raise taxes – and they were unwilling to consider another measure that would have required them to overturn the will of the people.

            Public tab for the program will be about $6.5 million the first year, though the union notes that about half will be paid by federal funds.

            Counters Supreme Court Ruling

Julianne Ferguson of the Washington Private Duty Association, said the filing caused a stir when news spread among private home-care agencies Monday. But if the union doesn’t follow through, it’s not such an issue. “As an organization representing private duty home care providers, we’re concerned to say the least,” she said.

            The new ballot measure would have reaffirmed the home-care program – meaning that further changes would have required a difficult two-thirds vote in the first two years. It also would have upped the training requirement to 85 hours, and mandated a $1 an hour pay increase for workers in the state Medicaid program when they completed the training.

It also would have required the governor to include the pay increase in her budget proposal. That would have countered a recent Supreme Court ruling, which held that the governor is not required to ask the Legislature for a pay increase for home care workers, even though an arbitrator awarded one in 2008.     

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