WA long-term care initiative challenged in court

Opponents of an initiative to boost training for home health-care aides are challenging the measure's misprinted petitions in court.

Supporters of Washington Initiative 1029 want their measure on the November ballot. But the petitions that voters signed said I-1029 would go to the Legislature first.

Secretary of State Sam Reed accepted the petitions anyway, because all other paperwork showed I-1029 was intended for a statewide vote.

But in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the opposition campaign asks the state Supreme Court to block I-1029 from the ballot, arguing voters who signed the petitions were misled.

The Service Employees International Union is I-1029's major supporter. A group called the Community Care Coalition is leading the opposition.