New Law Requires Mandatory Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients

#1

The request for the bill came from the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and it means that those who want employment through state-run programs could be asked to do a drug test. If you fail? Then you undergo a drug treatment program if you still want the government to help you out.

Those who get food stamps and unemployment insurance are also under the same umbrella for drug testing.

#2

While it may seem fairly common sense for such a law to be enacted, only 13 other states have this type of law in place Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.

#3

Money was approved in order to fund the program:

"Our 2015-17 State Budget implements common-sense reforms that put in place drug screening, testing and treatment mechanisms, so we can continue strengthening Wisconsin's workforce," Walker writes in a press release posted on his office's website.

"Employers across the state frequently tell me they have good-paying jobs available in high-demand fields, but need their workers to be drug-free. These important entitlement reforms will help more people find family-supporting jobs, moving them from government dependence to true independence."

#4

There is an argument against this law which centers around taxpayer waste of money concerns, due to the ineffectiveness of the law as cited by research where less than 1% of welfare recipients tested positive for drugs when tested in other states.