A bill requiring welfare recipients to pass a drug test before receiving benefits will be taken up in the next legislative session, if the bill’s sponsor has his way.
Sen. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, presented Senate Bill (SB) 1380 in the 2011 legislative session, where it passed the Senate with unanimous Republican approval, but stalled in the House of Representatives.
The senator will bring his bill back to the legislature for another try at the start of the next session in January 2012.
SB 1380 calls for a random drug-testing program for adult recipients of government benefits under the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program, commonly referred to as food stamps, and of those receiving cash payments for rent and other living expenses.
Under the drug testing program, welfare recipients would be selected every two weeks for random testing, based on the last two digits of the recipient’s Social Security number.
If a recipient’s number is drawn, he or she would have to submit to drug testing within two weeks at testing sites approved by the director of the Department of Economic Security (DES), which administers government assistance programs in the state.
“The welfare system takes money from the taxpayer, who works 40 to 50 hours a week, and gives it to someone else who, for whatever reason, can’t provide for himself or his family,” said Antenori. “I’m saying if you’re relying on someone else’s hard work for you to live, you should have some degree of responsibility to show that the money you’re receiving is going to its intended purpose.”
Under the bill, welfare recipients would see their benefits cut off if they refused to take a drug test, or tested positive for illegal drugs or controlled substances which aren’t prescribed for them.
The bill calls for DES to pay for the drug testing, citing assumed savings the department will amass from a reduced number of people being eligible to participate in the program.
Arizona isn’t the first to consider enacting welfare drug testing. Rhode Island, Louisiana and Idaho have considered similar laws, and two states, Michigan and Florida, have already passed such drug test laws.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the William E. Morris Institute for Justice have spoken against laws such as SB 1380.
In 2003, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that a law similar to Antenori’s violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens against unreasonable search and seizure.
“I was in the military for 20 years, and every six months I was required to take a drug test. Employers are allowed to test their employees,” said Antenori. “How are welfare recipients any different? If you are agreeing to take money from a source, you’re agreeing to accept the conditions and requirements that come along with that money. This isn’t about violating privacy, it’s about accepting government funds and the conditions that come along with them.
“If you are in such desperate conditions that your very survival depends on whether you get money from the government, then you shouldn’t be spending that money on drugs or alcohol or cigarettes,” continued Antenori. “I don’t think we should paint everyone on welfare as drug addicts. The majority of people on welfare are probably very good people, but there are a few out there who are on drugs or spending the money other than it is intended, and they need to be stopped so the program can be used for its intended purpose, which is to allow people to provide for themselves or their family in an emergency situation when they don’t have money to cover their basic necessities.”
DES does have a drug-testing element to its welfare program, which is not random, but is based on an assumption of honesty on the part of the applicant.
There are three questions on DES’s “Illegal Drug Use Statement,” which ask whether the recipient has lost or been denied a job due to drug use in the past 30 days, used illegal drugs in the past 30 days or has had legal trouble caused by drug use in the past 30 days. If the answer is “yes” to any of the questions, the recipient must submit to a drug test, and is at risk of losing his benefits for 12 months if the test results are positive.
DES officials say their policy is in line with the U.S. Constitution, because the recipient’s answer to the drug statement gives the department reasonable cause to conduct the drug test.
Antenori’s bill would remove the honor system as the basis for drug testing.
“Would you rely on the honor system for this? ‘Here, here’s a million dollars. I trust you’ll use it wisely.’ No way,” he said.
Antenori said his bill will start the approval process again in January with a new legislature and a new number.
