(South Dakota) Welfare Drug Testing May Receive Vote in SD House Today

www.dakotavoice.com ^ | February 2nd, 2011 | Bob Ellis

[Angelus]

South Dakota State Rep. Phil Jenson of Rapid City says HB 1152 to allow for drug testing for welfare recipients may receive a vote on the House floor today.

This bill and another one like it, HB 1120, were discussed in the House Health and Human Services committee yesterday in Pierre. Unfortunately, the social services lobby was out in force and convinced the committee to kill HB 1120. HB 1152 was amended to make it weaker before the committee passed it, but it is still a step in the right direction.

The bill would allow the Department of Social Services to create a drug testing program. The original bill specified that testing would only be called for if a DSS worker had “reasonable cause to believe” a particular welfare recipient was using illegal drugs; neither universal drug testing nor even random drug testing was called for. The amended version extends a weaker call for action on the part of DSS, as well as removed language about ”reasonable cause to believe” and replaced it with language about random drug testing.

[Two Kids' Dad]

Any testing is better than no testing.

Hopefully it’ll produce results that are in line with what reasonable people would assume and then they can write a follow-up bill with more teeth.

I’d like it if everyone on welfare nationwide was tested on a quarterly basis and those that test positive for illegal drugs would be permanently barred from ever getting on government assistance in the future.

[george76]

bttt