I-159: SEIU's Attempt to Expand Through An Initiative

I-159, a new ballot initiative, has just been approved for signature gathering by the Secretary of State. While the Montana Chamber has not yet decided to formally oppose the initiative, there are a number of red flags we see in the fine print.

This initiative is the baby of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and is part of their effort to unionize the home health care industry in Montana. SEIU will likely talk about some of the more feel-good parts of the initiative, such as a requirements for background checks, increased training for home health care workers, and a new state system to "eliminate waiting lists" for these services around the state through increased state expenditures. That's what you'll see on their ads and mailers.

But why is SEIU really involved in bringing this initiative to the people of Montana? The answer is contained in more than half of the full text. A majority of the new provisions in Montana law will deal with new collective bargaining provisions associated with unionizing people working in this field. In fact, the text essentially sets up SEIU as the union of choice ("(b) In the case of individual providers, the only unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining is a statewide unit composed only of individual providers.") So instead of going the normal route of setting up a union, SEIU is doing it through ballot initiative. So much for workers' rights in deciding whether they want to unionize.

The statement that will appear before voters in the ballot box will hardly represent the full impact of this initiative on the state or this particular sector of Montana's economy. A 26-word sentence at the end of the statement of purpose is supposed to convey how a majority of the initiative's text will affect the state. We are also concerned the fiscal note for this initiative (approximately $2.6 million of state funds the first year, increasing to $7 million by 2013) may be grossly underestimating the cost.

The money that will be pouring in from out-of-state to expand SEIU here in Montana will likely be a good chunk of change. Since bloggers of all backgrounds have recently shunned initiatives backed with out-of-state funds, it will be interesting to see their reaction to this new and very complicated initiative that is being pushed by out-of-state money.

These red flags are just the tip of the iceberg. The language of this initiative causes many to ask a number of questions that are likely to go unanswered by proponents of this initiative. Our board of directors will look at this initiative in June to determine whether these problems are enough to formally oppose the initiative this summer and fall.

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[Summit ILC AGAINST I-159]

For more information on I-159, please visit http://summitilcagainsti159.summitilc.org