Even though the House of Delegates version of the measure didn't make it to the chamber floor due to costs, The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee passed a Senate bill that would require drug testing for welfare recipients.
The measure would require drug testing for applicants to the Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare program as part of Transitional Aid for Needy Families who after an initial screening interview are suspected of drug use - which would be a barrier to employment. Welfare recipients who test positive for drug use would be denied benefits.
The House Appropriations Committee tabled the House version of the plan due to costs - which were estimated to be more than a $1 million to the state after factoring in roughly $500,000 in savings due to denied benefits.
The fiscal impact statement that sunk the House bill estimated the cost of each drug test to be $345. But the sponsor of the Senate measure Sen. Steve Martin, R-Chesterfield, told the House panel that he received new information this morning saying the cost of drug tests would only be around $15.
In October a federal judge shutdown a similar program in Florida that drug testedwelfare recipients as unconstitutional because it violated their Fourth Amendment rights of unreasonable search and seizure. After testing more than 7,000 welfare recipients, Florida found that less than 2 percent - just 32 people - failed the drug test. This lead the judge to conclude that there was no probable cause to test welfare recipients.
Martin said the Virginia measure is different, because the initial screening interview would be used to establish probable cause.
The bill now goes to the House Appropriations Committee.
I believe your cost to savings estimate is way out of whack !
The savings, if you factor in payments for the "Baby Mills",
and other support payments linked to welfare, the amounts
will be much higher. Let's get real and do some diligent
research!
Posted by: Clyde R Schnoor | Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 12:03 PM