The bill would establish a program of suspicion-based substance abuse screening and testing for Family Independence Program applicants and recipients who are at least 18 years old.
LANSING -- A controversial proposal is making its way into a House committee in Lansing once again.
Michigan lawmakers are considering a bill that would require welfare applicants and recipients to pass drug tests. House Bill 4118 will be considered Wednesday by a House committee.
The bill would establish a program of suspicion-based substance abuse screening and testing for Family Independence Program applicants and recipients who are at least 18 years old.
A similar bill won approval last year in the House but died in the Senate. Michigan briefly ran a pilot program to drug test welfare recipients in 1999.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least seven states have passed legislation regarding drug testing or screening for public assistance applicants or recipients. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah have a screening process in place.
Some apply to all applicants, others include specific language that there is a reason to believe the person is engaging in illegal drug activity or has a substance use disorder, others require a specific screening process.
Florida's law was stopped by a district judge. In Feb. 2013, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's ruling to halt enforcement of the program.
Tennessee's bill requires the department to develop a plan of suspicion-based testing and report its recommendations to the legislature by Jan. 2014.
After Michigan launched its pilot program in 1999, the American Civil Liberties Union sued and a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court's order halting the program.
Part of the legal challenge was based on the claim that constitutional rights were violated because testing was done without "individualized suspicion."
UpNorthLive asked our twitter followers how they feel about testing welfare recipients for drugs.
Sara Ankerson replied: "yes BUT ONLY if they test positive, their kids get taken away because how else will they feed them?"
There is also a conversation on UpNorthLive's Facebook page on the controversial bill.
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