To me, Question 1 on the November 6 Referendum is a  well-intended proposal for improving in-home care and the working conditions and pay for those who provide it here in Maine.

My household uses home care services and Question 1 sounds very much needed.  I won’t vote in favor of it, though, because it seems poorly thought through, overall. Particularly and especially, the proposal does not provide a good plan for the management and oversight of  “Universal Home Care for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities”, whose weighty title forecasts a sprawling agency. 

Management by a board hand-picked by the Governor, Senate President and House Speaker would be innately political and lacking in diversity. 

In addition, the proposal has no provision for rotating terms or board inclusion of closely related providers. I think it would be challenged and languish during a trip through the courts.

So, for me, after I  vote “no” on Question 1, I’ll be following up with my state senator and representative.  Ideally, our legislators, who have the responsibility for creating laws, can create a bill that crosses all the t’s and dots all the i’s, and with their cooperative effort can be enacted without legal issues.  

On election day, November 6, I’ll be voting against Question 1 and for legislators I know will listen to me. Please, you vote, too, for someone who listens to you.

Charlotte Henderson lives in Washington