- State Senate bills would set tougher rules for people on public assistance, By Kathleen Gray, October 17, 2013, Detroit Free Press: “The writing appears to be on the wall for those receiving public benefits in Michigan as two packages of bills aimed at tightening restrictions on those receiving unemployment or cash assistance from the state appear likely headed for Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk. Many Republican legislators and their allies hailed the bills as a way to cut down on malfeasance. Many Democratic legislators and their backers, however, characterized the measures as punishing the already disadvantaged. The GOP holds solid majorities in the state House and Senate. The bills deal with a host of issues: some dictating where those getting cash assistance can use their debit-like Bridge cards; others targeting unemployment benefits fraud, including one bill that seeks to deny unemployment benefits to potential employees — public and private — who either refused to take a drug test or tested positive for drugs…”
- Michigan Senate OK’s plan to cut off benefits for unemployed residents who fail drug tests, By Jonathan Oosting, October 17, 2013, MLive: “residents who fail or refuse to take a drug test required by a prospective employer could lose jobless benefits under a pilot program advanced Thursday by Michigan’s Republican-led state Senate. The measure, approved largely along party lines in a 28-10 vote, would treat failure or refusal to take a pre-employment drug test as proof that an individual “refused an offer of suitable work.” But it would not require businesses to report results of drug tests unless they choose to…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty