- SC bill would require drug tests for welfare, By Seanna Cox (AP), March 22, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “Opponents of a bill requiring all welfare applicants in South Carolina to pass a drug test said Thursday the costly proposal would violate the constitution, but its sponsor said it’s a requirement constituents want. Rep. Tom Young, R-Aiken, said if someone is using illegal drugs, they should not get a taxpayer-funded benefit. ‘There is no justification,’ he said. ‘How do we know those kids are getting the benefit of the welfare money versus their parents spending them on illegal drugs?’ Opponents said the legislation is unwarranted and fuels an inaccurate stereotype of poor people who need a boost. A House panel postponed voting on the bill Thursday. Young’s bill mimics a law in Florida that took effect last July and was blocked by a federal judge in October. During those interim months, less than 4 percent of applicants in that state tested positive…”
- Bill to drug test welfare recipients advances, March 21, 2012, Mansfield News Journal: “A proposal that would drug test people as a condition of receiving welfare advanced Wednesday evening in the Senate. The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville passed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee 7-1. The legislation is different from an original proposal that would have broadly tested people. In an opinion this week on that proposal and other pending bills that seek to drug test welfare recipients, Tennessee’s attorney general said the requirement would violate federal laws regulating Social Security, the federal food stamp program and the state Medicaid plan…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty