Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker has submitted a plan to the state legislature that would require drug testing for food stamp recipients—supposedly to encourage able-bodied adults to work—even though there are question about whether the program is legal under federal law, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

SEE ALSO:  West Virginia To Drug Test Welfare Applicants

“Employers have jobs available, but they need skilled workers who can pass a drug test. This rule change means people battling substance use disorders will be able to get the help they need to get healthy and get back into the workforce,” Walker said about the program that many call misguided and a waste of taxpayer’s money.

The governor and lawmakers added the rule to their 2015 budget and sued the federal government for the right to enact the program, The Wisconsin State Journal reported. Wisconsin disputed the Obama administration’s argument that federal law bans the program. A judge, however, dismissed the case because Wisconsin had not implemented the plan. Under the program, those who fail their drug test must undergo treatment or lose their benefits. It’s estimated that the state would screen roughly 68,400 applicants each year and require about 3 percent of them, approximately 2,100 people, to take a drug test. Officials estimate that about 224 of them will fail. The price tag for the program is $867,000 annually. A year ago, Walker sought then President-elect Donald Trump’s approval of the proposed program.

Opponents of the program argue that it has failed in other states where governments spent lots of money but found relatively few drug users. They also point out that the program would face a mountain of litigation even if the Trump administration doesn’t block implementation. If lawmakers fail to object to the renewed program, it will go into effect in the spring, with the first tests by the fall.

SOURCE:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal

SEE ALSO:

New Kansas Law Bans Spending Welfare Benefits At Movie Theaters, Swimming Pools

Trump Budget Proposal Will Make Severe Cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps, Federal Pensions And Prisons

Good ‘Ol Days: Barack Obama Was Nominated For President By The DNC 11 Years Ago
US-VOTE-2012-ELECTION-OBAMA
8 photos