I-1029: A proposal we can’t afford

  • By Evan Smith Enterprise forum editor
  • Tuesday, October 21, 2008 5:32pm

Initiative 1029, which would require more training for long-term caregivers, is a proposal that we don’t need and can’t afford.

I say this as someone who depends on home caregivers to get me into and out of bed and for help with personal hygiene.

My experience is that the quality of the aides has little to do with time spent in training sessions.

The training that the bill would require would be a one-size-fits-all training. I don’t need someone trained to work with Alzheimer’s patients. I want smart people that my family and I can train to meet my needs.

Paying for people to come into my home 30 hours a week is expensive and would be more so if the agency that employs these people had to pay for training beyond what it already provides. In addition, the state would have to pay millions of dollars for training of caregivers for Medicaid patients, training that would probably need to be provided by the organization that wrote the initiative.

Issues of long-term care should consider the needs of patients, of caregivers and of public and private employers. I-1029 considers only the interests of the Service Employees International Union, which represents state-employed caregivers.

The SEIU wrote the measure and spent the money needed to gather signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot only after it failed to get its way with the Legislature.

The Legislature wasn’t willing to pass a one-sided law. Voters shouldn’t do that either.

I-1000: Death with Dignity, not assisted suicide

Proponents of Initiative 1000 call it Death with Dignity. Opponents call it assisted suicide.

It would allow mentally competent, terminally ill patients to get medicine to end their own lives.

I’ve finally decided to join the Death with Dignity side.

I can’t imagine ever choosing the option for myself, but I’m willing to give it to those few who choose it.

I emphasize the word “few” because in Oregon, the one state that has such a law, the number of people who get prescriptions for lethal medicines is small, and the number who actually use them to end their lives is even smaller.

That tells me that few people would end their lives, but some would find comfort in knowing that they have the option.

We hear scare stories of abuses, but Oregon’s experience doesn’t show those abuses.

If we find abuses here, we can easily amend the law.

County charter amendments: 7 – Yes. 1 – No

Seven of the eight County charter amendments deserve our support. I’ve said I oppose No. 1 for an elected elections director.

No. 2 prohibits discrimination. No. 4 allows minimum qualifications for the sheriff and assessor. No. 7 provides a rational way for citizens to propose charter amendments. No. 8 provides for efficient non-partisan county elections. The others provide for a more efficient county government.

Evan Smith is the Enterprise Forum editor. Send comments to entopinion@heraldnet.com.

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