Despite these efforts, the Legislature has neglected to implement these sound policies regarding home health care workers. We must protect the most vulnerable, and this initiative does just that. The Legislature needs to balance the budget, raise revenue and fund I-1163.

Have they forgotten that this is the second time in three years that voters have made home-care safety and training a priority in this state? Or are they simply ignoring the will of voters?

I-1163 passed last month with 65 percent approval; in 2008 it passed with 73 percent approval. It’s time we fund this common-sense initiative.

I have a mother that I provide care for. If something happened to me, I want to feel confident the person coming in to care for her is safe and well-trained.

The Legislature needs to get its act together and create a balanced budget and increase revenue. We have experienced three years of cuts to vital services and can’t afford anymore. Lawmakers must fund I-1163 and ensure our elderly and disabled citizens receive the safe, quality care they need and deserve.

The people have spoken, and now the Legislature must act.

I completed the 12 required hours, and learned nothing. The SEIU takes three percent of my pay and has forced me to make a “voluntary” deduction to pay for the I-1163 campaign. When I asked them to stop deducting it, I was told I had no choice.

Under I-1163, the SEIU will require even more hours of training for parents, which the SEIU will be paid to provide. I do not need their 75 hours of training.

Parents should be exempted from the SEIU’s money grab.  I-1163 diverts money from direct care at a time when dollars are scarce. The least expensive place to care for a disabled individual is in their family home.

Tell the SEIU to leave the parents alone!

Every time I hear stories of seniors taken advantage of or abused, it makes me cringe. Our grandparents, who have worked their entire lives, deserve to be cared for by people with training and without dangerous backgrounds. That’s why I think that I-1163 should be a priority for this state.

We should be protecting our seniors by doing federal background checks called for in I-1163, not just the state-level checks we do now. This federal background check will prevent felons from other states from coming to Washington and becoming responsible for our parents and grandparents, who are at risk of abuse and neglect.

These stories are devastating and every time we hear one, it reminds us that we aren’t doing enough to prevent this from happening. We should be doing everything in our power to protect the most vulnerable people in our state.

This editorial states that Initiative 1163 would hurt our state’s economy even more. What about the patients that are going to be hurt or even killed by not having the proper care from professional caregivers?

It is imperative that we have proper background checks on the people caring for our disabled and elderly. This initiative makes it mandatory for all long-term care workers to be properly trained for emergencies as well as how to properly care for the disabled and elderly.

It is estimated that 2.1 million older Americans are abused each year, and with every case that is reported another five cases of abuse and neglect do not get reported. It is up to the citizens to help the helpless and get them the proper care, which they need.

If we implement adequate training and background checks to the long-term caregivers, then we stand a good chance of seeing a dramatic reduction in maltreatment and neglect of our elderly and disabled.

PAS-Port says no on Initiative I-1163.

Proponents of I-1163 claim it provides improved, sufficient, appropriate training for in-home service workers. The Department of Social and Health Services supposedly will absorb the administrative costs and personnel requirements for that training.

In reality, I-1163 proposes unfunded changes to background checks. It institutes unfunded fraud investigations, extensive unfunded training requirements and unfunded audits. I-1163 adds another level of bureaucracy to oversee and track worker training with no accountability to, and no protection for, the people with disabilities.

I-1163’s provisions can and will put vulnerable people at risk. I-1163 was drafted without the involvement of the people with disabilities who employ in-home service workers or those who live in long-term care facilities. I-1163 was crafted by SEIU to serve union purposes, not the needs of the people with disabilities. How can they claim to improve the system without us?

I-1163 is bad business. Feed it to the shredder. Let’s do it over and do it right.