Bill requiring welfare recipients to take drug tests headed to [Florida] governor

Miami Herald ^ | May 6. 2011 | Jodie Tillman, Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau

[Cincinatus' Wife]

TALLAHASSEE -- Applying for welfare benefits in Florida? Soon you’ll need to get drug tested.

A measure requiring the tests passed the Senate on Thursday and is headed to Gov. Rick Scott, who called it one of his legislative priorities.

“It’s fair to taxpayers,” Scott said after the vote. “They’re paying the bill. And they’re often drug screened for their jobs. On top of that, it’s good for families. It creates another reason why people will think again before using drugs, which as you know is just a significant issue in our state.”

Scott already signed an executive order requiring random drug testing of state workers.

HB 353 requires all adult recipients of federal cash benefits — the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — to pay for the tests, which are typically around $35. The screen would be for all controlled substances and applicants would have to disclose any legal prescriptions.

Recipients who test positive for drugs would lose their benefits for a year. If they fail a second time, they lose the benefits for three years. Parents who test positive must designate another adult to receive benefits on behalf of their children.

Those who pass would be reimbursed by having their benefits increased by the cost of the test.

“This is an effort to stop this cycle of drug abuse,” said Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville, one of the sponsors, who added the requirement was similar to one that many employers make of workers.

[PapaBear3625]

I would rather they stop welfare completely rather than allow the government to violate the Constitution, but that is just me.

Works for me.

[khnyny]

You are so full of sh*t. I have a good BS detector and you are full of it...

[Indy Pendance]

You are clueless. It’s a pity us constitutionalists have to carry everyone else through the election process and try at least to elect people who choose to get government out of our lives. We have to hold our nose through most of the process.

If only the MSM was fair.

LOL

You’re a noob sucker. Pity you.....

[microgood]

You are so full of sh*t. I have a good BS detector and you are full of it...

I am just pointing out what is going to happen. They are going to pass this law, the ACLU is going to challenge it, and it will take years to get to the Supreme Court and see what they say. But up until now, they have only granted a couple of exemptions to the 4th Amendment for drug testing.

Now if the Congress passed a law making welfare recipients with the same status as the military (where they are not covered under the Constitution or like the Japanese interns), then the States may be able to get around it. But under current law, they will not.

If we really want to know what is Constitutional, however, I would say welfare is not. It is Grand Larceny, stealing from one person and giving to another.

[microgood]

You are clueless. It’s a pity us constitutionalists have to carry everyone else through the election process and try at least to elect people who choose to get government out of our lives. We have to hold our nose through most of the process.

Well, rather than drug test welfare recipients, let's not drug test them, but eliminate welfare instead, since it is basically theft and is completely unconstitutional.

[microgood]

Dude.........attaching the Bill Of Rights to applying for welfare is not only disingenuous, it is just wrong.

Not sure what you mean. The Bill of Rights applies to people, and as far as I know, it is people on welfare. If you are saying that the Bill of Rights only applies to certain people, I think that is dangerous.

Drug testing welfare recipients is exactly how government divides up people and shreds our rights. Once they can drug test them, they will be coming door to door for us.

The solution is to eliminate welfare, not take away Constitutional rights from welfare recipients.

Do you really think it will be long from when they drug test welfare recipients to when they are going door to door for us? Once a right is gone, you can never get it back without violence.

[eyedigress]

Welfare is not a right that the States demanded before ratifying the Constitution. Get Real

[microgood]

Welfare is not a right that the States demanded before ratifying the Constitution. Get Real

I totally agree. Welfare is theft.

[eyedigress]

Fair enough. General Welfare to me is the right to your religion, the right to speak, and the right to defend it.

[eyedigress]

If you ask for welfare and are expected to seek employment, should you be required to be able to pass an employment screening........

[Georgia Girl 2]

WEll that will shrink the welfare rolls by half. LOL!

[microgood]

If you ask for welfare and are expected to seek employment, should you be required to be able to pass an employment screening........

This is where the rub is. The very document that protects your right to speech and religion also guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable search by the government and any search must be based on probable cause. Random drug testing infringes on that Constitutional right.

The Supreme Court has allowed random drug testing in certain cases related to public safety, like pilots and truck drivers, but it is not allowed in jobs that are not related to public safety. Initial job screening drug tests are allowed, especially by the private sector. The Constitution does not protect you from private employers, just the government.

In this case, it is the government that wants to do the testing so the Constitution does apply, but so far the rulings indicate both testing of welfare recipients and state workers in jobs not related to public safety will be struck down in Federal Court.

I am reluctant to support this because if the state succeeds here, it will not be long until they come after the rest of us.

[microgood]

The Florida governor founded Solantic in 2001, only a few years after he resigned as the CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA. In January, according to the Palm Beach Post, he transferred his $62 million stake in Solantic to his wife, Ann Scott, a homemaker involved in various charitable organizations.

Wow. So now we know the real reason Scott is demanding drug testing. Just another crooked politician.

[Lancey Howard]

Yep, cries of “racism” elicit only a yawn and some eye-rolling these days.

[eyedigress]

The 4th Amendment would not apply to recipients of welfare IMHO. If they are not capable of work due to addiction then say so. Welfare was meant as a temporary measure to pull folks through rough patches of life, not a way of life.