One of the ways Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he would better guard taxpayer dollars is by requiring drug testing for people receiving benefits through state-administered welfare programs.
Scott said, as part of his seven-step plan to create 700,000 private-sector jobs, that he could save taxpayers $77 million by adding a testing requirement and more stringent work provisions.
"If you go apply for a job today, you are generally going to be drug tested," Scott told Central Florida News 13 in a pre-election interview from October 2010. "The people that are working are paying the taxes for people on welfare. Shouldn't the welfare people be held to the same standard? We shouldn't have long-term welfare or someone who is using drugs or not out trying to get a job."
Scott didn't drop the issue after defeating Democratic CFO Alex Sink in November.
"It's practical, and it's fair. We shouldn't be subsidizing people who are doing drugs," Scott told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Welfare is a broad term that could have different meanings based on a person's interpretation. For instance Medicaid, which provides subsidized health care for low-income families, could be considered a form of welfare. So could food stamps. Then there's what people traditionally think of welfare -- which is direct cash assistance. That program is called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In Florida, it's also called temporary cash assistance.
The idea of trying to make welfare recipients take a drug test is hardly new.
Supporters argue that drug tests are already commonplace for private-sector job employment, and that a testing requirement would prohibit welfare recipients from using taxpayer dollars to fuel their habit. Opponents say that widespread drug testing is too costly, and that welfare recipients are no more likely to use drugs than anyone else. They also say drug testing is unconstitutional because it amounts to an unreasonable search and seizure. A Michigan law requiring random drug testing was ruled unconstitutional in 2003.
Yet different versions of a testing requirement are now being considered by lawmakers in Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraksa.
And, as Scott wants, in Florida.
Bills have been filed in both the Florida House and Senate that would require some recipients of state and federal direct financial assistance to agree to drug tests by July 1, 2012. Under the provisions of HB 353 and SB 556, applicants for temporary cash assistance who have a felony drug conviction in the previous three years would be required to submit to a drug test as part of the application process. If they pass the test and begin receiving aid, recipients would be subject to additional testing for up to three years.
If a person fails the initial test, they would not be eligible to receive funds for three years. If they fail a test while receiving aid, they would be removed from the program.
The cost for the test -- which the bill does not estimate -- would be paid for by the person being tested.
It's not clear how many of the nearly 100,000 people in Florida who receive temporary cash assistance would be affected. The legislation would not impact people receiving food stamps or on Medicaid.
The drug testing legislation, which is waiting for committee hearings, asks the Department of Children and Families to provide a report to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2013, detailing how many people have been tested, how many refused the test, and as a result, how many people were either removed from the program or ruled ineligible.
Bill sponsor Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville, said he has not talked to Scott about the bill and was unaware drug testing was a Scott campaign promise. Oelrich, a former sheriff for Alachua County, said he also hasn't heard from Senate leadership if they plan to try to push the bill through the Legislature. The House companion bill has been filed by freshman Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness.
Oelrich said he wanted to start small, by requiring only convicted drug felons to participate, and wrote the law so that state costs would be minimal.
"I don't think it's too much to ask that people that receive welfare payments, that they agree not to violate the law by taking illegal substances," Oelrich said.
Florida, interestingly enough, has tried to initiate drug testing before. The Legislature in 1998 approved a drug-testing pilot project for people receiving temporary cash assistance. But the results were underwhelming. Of the 8,797 applicants screened for drugs, only 335 showed evidence of having a controlled substance in their system and failed the test, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The pilot project cost the state $2.7 million (or about $90 a test).
During the campaign, Scott said he wanted to have drug testing for welfare recipients, not just those who had previous drug convictions. So we'll be watching to see whether the current proposed legislation is expanded. But for now, we rate this promise In the Works.