Posted on 02/15/2010 12:27:25 PM PST by Red in Blue PA
ATLANTA -- If you want an unemployment check or other state benefits, be prepared to take a drug test if the General Assembly passes bi-partisan legislation Rep. Ben Harbin introduced Thursday. House Bill 1163 drew immediate opposition from labor and advocacy groups.
Harbin, an Evans Republican, chairs the House Appropriations Committee that writes the budget, but he said he's not trying to save money by keeping people off the dole.
Moments before the House passed an adjustment to the current year's budget that included more than $1 billion in cuts, his bill was assigned to the Industrial Relations Committee. Next year's budget will have deeper cuts.
In addition to the state's general budget troubles, the separate trust fund that pays unemployment benefits is essentially broke, having been propped up by a loan from the federal government.
Harbin said the bill aims to ensure those getting assistance remain focused on finding a job.
(Excerpt) Read more at fayettedailynews.com ...
How many many in here want their 80 something year old parents to have mandatory drug testing simply because they are on Social Security and Medicare? Yes it is the same thing. Be careful what you wish for folks.
Slippery slope. Bad idea.
I don’t want a nanny state - I just want it to be a little more difficult for people to perpetrate fraud on the welfare/medicaid system.
True altruism should be allowed to work - then you won’t have 60% of the country working to support the rest.
Peace!
The jobs I have had, and the jobs my husband has and currently does work, require random drug screenings as a condition of employment. Why shouldn’t welfare bums have to face the same process?
I figure, if someone else is paying your way... You have nothing to say, except perhaps if they are deliberately doing things to make it hard for you to become independent.
To paraphrase Franklin, it is not wise to make people comfortable in their poverty.
Fine there's other ways of doing it though. One is the illegal alien issue which is likely the largest public assistance abuse going on but the GOP is too timid to address. In Tennessee if you draw unemployment you must seek employment and submit a list of places you applied for work. Last time I drove by Mickey D's was still hiring in our state.
Where does a person draw the line. Is a computer a luxury as well for someone on assistance? I don't know about you but I need mine as it has saved us and the government a fortune because I could obtain needed information. There's a thread about Arizona going on right now and a state REP wanting to limit what a person can spend money on if they are on any form of assistance. The thing of it is the lawmakers do not know or understand needs.
There are many ways to cut fraud. The first in my book should be ANYONE applying for any government aid show proof of citizenship. I don't mean residence I mean citizenship and it be verified as legitimate by that agency.
I agree on the illegal alien issue - wholeheartedly! The law should be enforced - period!
Main thing is government needs to start getting out of the insurance business including disability and unemployment and make it possible and profitable for the private sector to do the job instead. I'm not talking about messes like what Bill Frist created. I mean true privatization. All Frist did was pave the way for Obama's insurance program which I believe was his intent and purpose.
All this law does is just add another law in a government with too many laws now. The GOP is not actually addressing the real problems but rather distracting from them with nonsense laws like this one. Let me say it another way. This is as bad an idea as your private insurer requiring a mandatory drug test for your car, home owners, or health insurance. Not many would tolerate such demands as drug testing for payment from the private sectorm insurers and it knows it nor should they tolerate such demands from government either.
i believe the idea behind the testing was for drugs other than prescribed meds by a dr....ie crack meth pot etc etc...i believe the statement was for gov’t benefits ie food stamps welfare etc also...how many times have you gone to the store and seen people with cart loads of food paying with food stamps yet they have the finest clothes, manicures, jewelry, cell phones and driving escalades...i see it happening all to often...while i am very sorry for your situation imho i am tired of people getting the free ride while i and my family bust our asses on a daily basis to make ends meet the honest way...yes there are people that are truly in need and i bet those people would not mind the testing to weed out the abusers....i don’t believe i ever said that i would exempt myself now did i...??...i believe that was your perception...i am no better than anyone else...i am just an honest person trying to make an honest living to provide for my family...and that gets harder every day when my taxes go up to give free rides to the abusers....
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