How much should homework count?

The video below of Rick Wormeli discussing how much homework should count is something that has definitely been rattling around in my mind.  Many teachers have the mindset that hard work counts and want that to be reflected in a student's grade.  Others, myself included, feel that they are not assessing work ethic, but and understanding of ideas and concepts.  If a student has shown that they know the information on an authentic assessment, shouldn't that be their grade?  This is a hard pill to swallow because most students need that homework practice to do well and may need the motivation of points.  I definitely still give points for classwork and homework leading up to my assessments but I'd really like to scale back and make assessments be what count.  The other day I had a girl ask me about a missing assignment in our portal.  She said she had lost the assignment and did she have to redo it.  I looked at the portal and saw she got an A on the assessment on that topic, so I said, "Nope, I can see you understand Excel, so I'll excuse the assignment."  The student was shocked and I felt really good about this rational line of thinking!  I'll get there someday....