Proposal 4 in Michigan: Home health care workers

There’s a debate in Michigan over whether people who provide in-home help to those with disabilities and some elderly should be guaranteed the right to collective bargaining under a Constitutional amendment.

That’s part of what Proposal 4 is about.

Elizabeth Schultz lives in an apartment in Holland with her cat, Kiko.  Schultz is college educated, teaches a class at a community mental health agency and is a deacon at her church.

It’s a big election for Michigan ballot proposals.

To help clarify Proposals Two and Four, Cyndy spoke with Michigan Radio Lansing Bureau Chief, Rick Pluta.

Listen to Pluta’s insight in the above audio clip.

Michigan voters have plenty of homework to do before election day. One of the more complicated of the five proposed amendments to the Michigan Constitution is Proposal 4.  Michigan Watch teamed up with the Center for Michigan’s Truth Squad to review the ads.

Under the federally-funded Home Help Services Program, qualifying elderly or disabled residents of Michigan are eligible to receive in-home assistance with personal care and household chores.

Participants of the program have discretion in the hiring and firing of home health aides, and have their services paid for by Medicaid funds administered through the Michigan departments of Community Health and Human Services.

Michigan voters next month are going to be asked to decide the fate of five proposed amendments to the state constitution, plus whether they want to keep the Emergency Manager law. Some of the amendments have gotten a lot of publicity, like the one that would require a statewide vote before any new bridge could be constructed.

The amendment that would guarantee collective bargaining rights is getting attention, as is the one that would require utilities to get 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources.