Committee-passed legislation heading to the full House in Lansing would mandate drug tests for some welfare recipients. A separate bill would require low-income families to assure their children under 16 don't have too many school absences in order to continue getting benefits, Alanna Durkin reports in the Free Press.
Supporters say the bills are designed to protect against the misuse of taxpayer dollars and boost school attendance. But some say the measures unfairly penalize low-income families without addressing the deeper problems.
The drug test bill last week cleared the House Families, Children and Seniors Committee. If approved by the legislature and signed by the governor, the Department of Human Services would start screening in pilot counties next April, Durkin writes.
Republican Rep. Jeff Farrington of Utica said he introduced the bill after hearing from constituents who were concerned their taxpayer dollars were being used to pay for drugs.
The suburban Detroit representative tells Durkin he tweaked his bill at the suggestion of aides to the governor so that people who test positive a first time would be offered substance abuse treatment and wouldn't lose benefits unless they quit that program or test positive again.
Pushback comes from the Michigan League for Public Policy, among others.
"It's hard for me to really understand what the impetus is for this myriad of bills . . . that seem to want to punish welfare recipients," said Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the league.
In a Deadline Detroit column, Darrell Dawsey calls the proposals "class warfare" and says:
It's degrading and insulting to poor folks. . . .Why not drug test the executives at the companies that receive government funding, loans and tax breaks? Why not test those who run the foundations and nonprofits that receive government grants?
A Free Press reader, Jeffrey Faber, comments under Durkin's report:
It's rather condescending overall to imply that those on assistance are druggies. Nevertheless, it would be fine with me --- as long as our state legislators are tested in an equal fashion.
