Revisiting drug testing welfare recipients: Was there really no savings?

Several states have tried to implement this on some level. but federal courts have struck it down. I fail to understand why I can be forced legally to take a drug test, but welfare recipients can't. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will overturn lower courts someday. Working folks shouldn't be held to a higher standard than those on the public dole. Interesting, you were severely misled by the mainstream media on state welfare recipient drug testing results. You may have heard it wasn't cost effective and only a miniscule percentage failed. Well, that isn't exactly correct. The numbers most cited are from Florida where drug testing for new welfare recipients took place in 2011, before a Federal Judge stopped it. The final numbers cited are 2.7% failed or failed to complete the test.

Via The New York Slimes:

From July through October in Florida — the four months when testing took place before Judge Scriven’s order — 2.6 percent of the state’s cash assistance applicants failed the drug test, or 108 of 4,086, according to the figures from the state obtained by the group. The most common reason was marijuana use. An additional 40 people canceled the tests without taking them.

Because the Florida law requires that applicants who pass the test be reimbursed for the cost, an average of $30, the cost to the state was $118,140. This is more than would have been paid out in benefits to the people who failed the test, Mr. Newton said.

As a result, the testing cost the government an extra $45,780, he said.

And the testing did not have the effect some predicted. An internal document about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, caseloads stated that the drug testing policy, at least from July through September, did not lead to fewer cases.

“We saw no dampening effect on the caseload,” the document said.

Strangely, or not so strangely, the NY Timers never cites the number who refused to take the test. Instead, they cite an undocumented  "internal document" that claims the they did not have fewer cases. AP reported those numbers via CBS here.

Nearly 1,600 applicants have refused to take the test since testing began in mid-July, but they aren't required to say why. Thirty-two applicants failed the test and more than 7,000 have passed, according to the Department of Children and Families. The majority of positives were for marijuana.

If you add the 18% refused to the 2.7% that failed, it comes to a 20% reduction in caseloads and spending. That clearly is a savings. Federal Courts need to either allow welfare drug testing or completely eliminate drug testing for everyone. They look like a bunch of liberal hypocrites at the moment.

Alabama Legislature approves welfare drug testing for applicants with previous drug convictions...

I have had to pass a drug test several times to keep my current job. Most people have to pass a drug test when being hired. Welfare recipients are being employed by us taxpayers to take care of their children. That's a job and they should have to pass a drug test like the rest of us.

Via FOX10:

The Alabama Legislature has approved a bill to drug test welfare applicants who have had drug convictions within the last five years.
The House of Representatives voted 73-27 for the bill Thursday. It now goes to Gov. Robert Bentley for his signature.
A person could keep their benefits after one positive drug test. After a second positive, the person would be ineligible for one year. The recipient would be permanently ineligible after a third positive drug test.
Republican Rep. Kerry Rich told lawmakers he wanted to make sure people weren't using benefits to buy drugs.
Opposed lawmakers said the tests would cost the state money but accomplish little. The state already bans people with felony drug convictions from collecting benefits under Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

Interesting: Majority of Americans want to drug test Congress...

I would really like to know what Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are on...

WASHINGTON -- While most Americans like the idea of drug testing for welfare recipients, they LOVE the idea of drug testing for members of Congress.
According to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, 64 percent of Americans favor requiring welfare recipients to submit to random drug testing -- a measure pushed by Republican lawmakers in recent years -- while 18 percent oppose it. But an even stronger majority said they're in favor of random drug testing for members of Congress, by a 78 percent to 7 percent margin. Sixty-two percent said they "strongly" favor drug testing for congressional lawmakers, compared to only 51 percent who said the same of welfare recipients.

House bill will allow drug testing for food stamp recipients...

It also allows states to add work requirements. There is no way Obama and democrats in the Senate will allow their constituents to be drug tested and put to work. It would break their cycle of dependency and cause them to become Republicans or Libertarians.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is expected to consider a bill this week that would cut food stamps by an estimated $4 billion annually and allow states to put broad new work requirements in place for recipients.
The legislation also would end government waivers that have allowed able-bodied adults who don’t have dependents to receive food stamps indefinitely.
The vote comes after the House defeated a wide-ranging farm bill in June because many conservatives believed the cuts to the nearly $80 billion-a-year food stamp program weren’t high enough. That bill would have made around $2 billion a year in cuts.
Food stamps have for decades been part of farm legislation. But House leaders separated the food and farm programs after the bill’s June defeat and passed a farm-only bill in July. The Republican leaders, led by Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, then crafted the separate food stamp bill in an effort to appease conservatives who have been aggressively pushing for cuts to domestic food aid. [...]
The House bill also would tighten eligibility standards and try to reduce the rolls by allowing states to require drug testing for recipients. It would bar convicted murderers, rapists and pedophiles from receiving food stamps.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signs welfare drug testing bill into law...

I had to take a drug test to get my job. Most jobs that pay anything require a drug test. If welfare and unemployment recipients can't pass a drug test, it is unlikely they can get off the government gravy train. Look for liberals to quickly launch a lawsuit claiming this is unfair and discriminatory.

Kansas.com — Calling drug addiction a “scourge in Kansas,” Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law Tuesday a bill to test welfare and unemployment recipients suspected of using illegal drugs.

“This is a horrific thing that hits so many people,” he said. “What this effort is about is an attempt to get ahead of it and, instead of ignoring the problem, start treating the problem.”

The drug testing bill lets the Department for Children and Families require urine tests of any welfare recipient suspected of using illegal drugs. That could be triggered by a person’s demeanor, missed appointments or police records.

Opponents of the bill said that may leave the decision open to people’s biases. But the bill was swiftly approved by the House 106-16 and backed by the Senate on a 29-9 vote.
Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, called it “the most treatment-focused drug testing bill in the entire country.”