Senate OKs bill to nearly double home care workers' pay

[TexasTowelie]

Illinois senators narrowly approved a bill Tuesday to nearly double wages paid to home care workers in the state’s Community Care Program.

Under Senate Bill 3511, home care worker wages would jump from about $10.98 an hour to $19.89 an hour on July 1. Wages would continue to climb by $1 an hour per year until they reached $24.69 in 2021.

Sen. Mattie Hunter, D-Chicago said the workers supply home care to 100,000 seniors, allowing them to remain out of nursing homes and in their own homes. The Service Employees International Union, which represents the workers, said low wages for home care workers leads to high turnover among home care workers.

Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, said the bill will cost the state $800 million a year that it doesn’t have.

Read more: http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180424/senate-oks-bill-to-nearly-double-home-care-workers-pay

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Good, our senior citizens need good care, and so do the workers...

Perhaps better pay = better workers? I'd feel better if I knew the worker helping my Mom get around the house and do other things she could not, was getting a decent salary and not prone to do negative stuff such as steal etc. Not all do, but I do feel better about the senior citizens and the workers. Both win.

The republican Oberweis bitched about the cost. My response to him is that what else are we going to do? Are we going to ship them all to senior health centers where you would have to hire casts of thousands (workers, health care professionals, etc.). And unfortunately, not all senior citizens have the funds or resources to pay for such intensive care. So what is one to do, Mr. Oberweis?

Jerk.