Drug Testing

Earlier today, House republicans refused to extend the payroll tax cut for 160 million working Americans.  Included in the Senate version of the bill, which they rejected, was an extension of unemployment benefits, but with the failure of the House to pass the bill, these jobless workers - 33,400 in Missouri alone - will receive no extension come January 1.

With all the doom and gloom in the economy and the fact that the holiday season is upon us, you'd think our elected officials in Washington would take every opportunity to work to solve the economic crisis our nation is currently enduring.

But no.  Rep. Todd Akin prefers to see this as an opportunity to continue his baseless attacks on workers:

Akin also said he wants to sit down with the Senate to continue pressing for the House-drawn provision that would allow states to perform drug tests as a condition for receiving unemployment.

"We don't really want our unemployment benefits going for drugs because people on drugs aren't easily employed," he said.

The Post-Dispatch rightly criticizes Missouri's new law (HB73) that targets the poorest among us for drug testing, but imposes no similar drug testing requirements for wealthier recipients of taxpayer assistance.  

There is no evidence — none — that welfare recipients are any more likely to be on drugs than other classes of people — such as lawmakers or corporate executives — who receive taxpayer funds. The law, like dozens of others considered by state legislatures in recent years, simply is another front in the class war started by the Republican Party...

Today, the poor are under attack by the GOP, and drug-testing laws for welfare recipients are a weapon of choice. They are mean-spirited, useless and expensive wastes of time...

Missouri's GOP lawmakers, and the handful of Democrats who joined them, were wrong to follow Florida's example. Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon was weak-kneed not to veto the bill. We look forward to the courts ending this unconstitutional farce.

The General Assembly and Governor Nixon really missed the mark on this bill. 

The Tribune's Hank Waters weighs in on the proposal to drug test TANF parents for whom the DSS determines there's "reasonable suspicion" for illegal drug use:  "The problem with this law goes beyond its difficulty of enforcement. Its very premise is wrong. Supporters say welfare recipients should not receive government money to fund a drug habit, but on this basis anyone receiving government money should be subject to testing...Supporters try to cast this bill as a way to save money, but that’s a crock...Once the legislative demagogues have cast their votes, the parade will be over and the law soon forgotten. This sort of moralistic knee-jerking is too common these days in Jefferson City."

Rep. Ellen Brandom (R-Sikeston) plans to reintroduce legislation this session that would direct the Department of Social Services to set up a drug-testing program for participants in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  The tests would apply only to people for whom the Department decides there is a "reasonable cause" to investigate. If a person fails, they would be ineligible to receive benefits for one year.

Brandom says the bill she'll pre-file for the 2010 session will be be identical to the perfected version from last session (HB30).