Texas Senate approves drug testing for welfare

Cotton

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Texas Senate approves drug testing for welfare
By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press | April 10, 2013 | Updated: April 10, 2013 3:56pm
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Some Texas applicants for welfare would be subjected to drug testing and would be permanently cut off if they fail three times under a bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate.

The bill covers Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program applicants. The program, which provides poor people with money for food, clothing, housing and other basic needs, distributes about $90 million to more than 100,000 Texans annually. The amount of the payment depends on family size and income.

"Taxpayer money should not be used to subsidize someone's drug habit," bill sponsor Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said before the bill sailed through on a 31-0 vote that sent it to the House.

The program already requires adult TANF applicants to sign a pledge not to sell or use drugs. Nelson's bill would move Texas in line with seven other states that require testing. It would not cover other welfare programs such as food stamps or other state benefit programs.

Not all applicants would be tested, but all would be required to undergo a screening assessment, likely a questionnaire, to determine their risk of drug use. Anyone with a previous felony drug conviction or failed drug test or who is otherwise deemed a high risk for drug use would be tested.

Applicants who test positive would be barred from collecting benefits for 12 months. They could reapply in six months if they complete a substance abuse program. Three failed drug tests would result in a permanent ban.

The bill would still allow the applicants' children to receive benefits through a designated third party.

"My intent was never to harm the children," Nelson said.

She said many Texas employers require pre-employment drug testing and said her bill may help people find jobs and get off welfare.

"We're not only going to help them get off drugs," Nelson said. "We're going to help them get a job."

The Senate is also considering a separate bill that would require similar screening and drug testing for those who apply for unemployment benefits. Gov. Rick Perry has expressed support for both drug testing bills.

"Welfare should never subsidize the irresponsible choices of otherwise capable people who instead elect to stay at home, play video games, and get high with their friends," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.

_____________________________________________

It sounds like it will pass the House as well. :towel
 

skidadl

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Now expect allow the money saved on welfare to go towards funding drug treatment centers.
 

Cotton

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Now expect allow the money saved on welfare to go towards funding drug treatment centers.
So be it. It's a great step in the revamping of our welfare system. Even if we just break even it's a great move.

EDIT: Wait, I thought you were making the argument that we have to pay for the drug testing? Are you suggesting that the state will rehabilitate the ones that fail tests?
 

skidadl

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I am suggesting that this will eventually contribute to the expansion of funding towards rehabilitation.
 

Cotton

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I think that's massive speculation.
 

skidadl

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That's true. Our gubment's got dis handled!
 

Jiggyfly

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Unless this is ongoing screening its a massive waste of money and time.
 

Jiggyfly

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Editorial: Drug testing welfare applicants nets little
Updated 3/18/2012 7:30 PM

People on welfare shouldn't be able to use their benefits to buy illegal drugs.


By Dave Martin, AP

OPPOSING VIEW: Program protects taxpayer dollars
That non-controversial sentiment helps explain why a push to mandate drug testing for welfare applicants is sweeping through nearly two dozen states. "If you have enough money to be able to buy drugs," says Colorado Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, "then you don't need public assistance."
Hard to argue with that. Before lawmakers get too carried away, though, they might want to consider what has happened in states that have tried such laws. If the experiences in Arizona and Florida are any guide, the answer is: not much.
While early results hint at some potential, savings have been small and few abusers have been caught. More troubling, collateral damage to children has not been effectively addressed — strange, considering that today's welfare program, which offers temporary assistance, is open only to deeply impoverished families with children.

Arizona was the first state to impose a testing program. In 2009, it began testing new welfare recipients when there was a "reasonable cause" to suspect illicit drug use. So how many of the 87,000 people subjected to the program have tested positive since then?

Just one
.

That's right. The much-touted program netted a single drug abuser.
The biggest reason is likely the way Arizona determines "reasonable cause." Essentially, the state asks new recipients whether they've used drugs in the past 30 days, and only those who answer yes are tested. With no penalty for lying, a couple of dozen owned up. Of those, several tested negative; the rest failed to take the test.
If savings are the goal, Arizona's program is a bust. Disqualifying the single drug abuser saved the state $560 — out of the $200 million in benefits paid out since testing started. An additional $200,000, or one-tenth of 1%, was saved when 1,633 people failed to return their drug use questionaires.
And Florida? For four months last year, before being stopped by a court, Florida tested all adult welfare applicants (but not people already in the program) and charged them the $30 to $40 cost of the test. About 2.7% tested positive. More significantly, roughly 2,000 — one-third of applicants — failed to take the test. But there's no telling how many feared failing the test and how many couldn't afford the fee. The cost is repaid if the test is passed, but welfare applicants might struggle to muster $30.
The legal issues are still unsettled. The federal trial judge who temporarily halted Florida's program ruled that it unconstitutionally mandated searches without suspicion.
It's a close call. A federal appeals panel upheld a similar program in 2002, finding that Michigan had "a strong interest" in ensuring that welfare funds were used properly. By a tie vote, the full court disagreed and the program was halted.
The children, meanwhile, have received too little consideration.
In Florida, if a parent is disqualified, another adult may be designated to receive the children's share, but few disqualified applicants have taken advantage of the process. Nor is there any provision in either state's program for rehabilitation.
None of this is stopping legislators elsewhere from pushing ahead, or seeking ways to expand drug testing to unemployment benefits, food stamps and other forms of assistance.
States obviously have an interest in ensuring that taxpayer funds are spent wisely, as well as in discouraging drug use. And it's clear that some recipients of federal assistance abuse drugs. A 2002 federal study put the number at 9.6% — compared with 6.8% in the general population.
Even so, until states can come up with a smarter way to ferret out the abusers while protecting children, the testing craze will be just another program that appeals to stereotypes in hard economic times while producing little value in the real world.
 

Cotton

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30 bucks a pop for the 100,000 in the program in Texas is 3 mill. We pay out 90 mill in free money in this program that is subject to the testing. Meaning 3% needs to be trimmed ou to make it pay for itself. Using Jiggy's numbers from Florida, we are pretty much there statistically without even starting the testing.

Thanks, Jiggy, for the research you did.
 

Playmaker

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Meh, while I don't like bankrolling deadbeats weed habits I'm against this. What's next drug testing people getting SS benefits? Unemployment comp? W/C? Student loans?
 

2233boys

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If you are going to test, you test everyone who receives the benefit not just those you think are high risk.
 
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Deuce

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Meh, while I don't like bankrolling deadbeats weed habits I'm against this. What's next drug testing people getting SS benefits? Unemployment comp? W/C? Student loans?
What's wrong with testing them all?
 

Playmaker

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What's wrong with testing them all?
If a person has been paying into UC his whole life and needs it some day you think they should be denied because they smoke some weed? Same for SS. If I work my whole life paying into SS then decide when I retire I want to smoke weed, it should be grounds for denying benefits? Then next since cigarettes are bad for you they start doing the same for tobacco. The govt needs to get out of our lives not get more involved.

http://dccforums.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1068
 

Playmaker

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Cigarettes are illegal.
Nope but employers around here are stating that they will not hire tobacco users and current employees aren't allowed to smoke. They claim they can test you for it.
 

BipolarFuk

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Meh, while I don't like bankrolling deadbeats weed habits I'm against this. What's next drug testing people getting SS benefits? Unemployment comp? W/C? Student loans?
What's next? Probably whatever big government program the hypocrites agree with all the while railing against big government.
 
D

Deuce

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They can. My hospital and multiple surrounding facilties do the same thing.

But that's not the point. The point is about getting free money from the government and I support drug testing for those people. I see people literally everyday on disability or getting some sort of assistance who have drug and alcohol problems. Knowing that my tax dollars either buy the substances themselves or just help them pay their bills so their spare money can go towards that pisses me off. I think it should be an ongoing procedure if they want to keep getting checks.
 

Kbrown

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It annoys me when people make the "evil big government" argument about a state. Most hardcore libertarians' views involve letting state government take the place of the federal government.
 

Carp

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It annoys me when people make the "evil big government" argument about a state. Most hardcore libertarians' views involve letting state government take the place of the federal government.
Consider the source...Bipo is against everything.
 

Carp

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Nope but employers around here are stating that they will not hire tobacco users and current employees aren't allowed to smoke. They claim they can test you for it.
WGAS? If you have your own private company you can set the guildelines for employment for your company.
 
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