Drug Testing and Welfare

This week, the Missouri House passed legislation which prevents drug-users from receiving welfare benefits. The legislation calls for the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish a drug-testing program for work-eligible applicants and recipients of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This is a cash-aid program and currently has NO restrictions for those who may use illegal substances. If passed and signed by the Governor, Missouri would become one of eleven states that practices drug testing provisions for welfare applicants – it’s about time.

The legislation says that to be tested, there must be "reasonable suspicion" to believe a person is using illegal drugs. After an administrative hearing, applicants or recipients who test positive will be declared ineligible for benefits for one year.

This legislation is long over-due. Most employees, including the military and federal employees, are required to take a mandatory drug test. Why shouldn’t welfare recipients who receive support from OUR hard earned tax dollars be held to the same standard?

The bill also directs the department to develop, implement, and enforce a policy requiring the immediate termination of an employee who fails to report any suspected illegal use of a controlled substance or fraud of the TANF Program by any applicant or recipient of TANF benefits.

In addition, the bill also subjects elected officials to a drug test prior to taking office and once every two years after that while they remain in office.

This legislation will help encourage people using drugs to stop and get help. It is a necessary intervention. If people want to receive welfare benefits, they have to be drug-free. The Senate needs to pass this bill and the Governor should sign it. This legislation will begin to help and enable our citizens to live a clean and productive lives rather than harming themselves and those around them.

Crunch Time

With just two weeks left in the First Regular Session of the 95^th General Assembly most of the priorities passed by the Missouri House of Representatives remain lingering or stalled in the Missouri Senate.  At this time, the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate have Republican majorities.

This session the House has identified a number of priority issues and passed the bills that express the intent of those priorities.  These priorities include:

• Drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Adjust income tax brackets to give tax relief to middle class
• Eliminate the franchise tax on small businesses
• Expansion of the Castle Doctrine and the Business Premises Safety Act
• Economic development
• Four-day school week
• Prohibit illegal aliens from enrolling in higher education
• Independence Day Sales Tax Holiday
• Declare Missouri sovereignty under the 10^th Amendment
• Judicial reform
• Guarantee the right to pray in public places
• Create the crime of coercing an abortion
• Tax Payer Bill of Rights
• The Fair Tax

These bills have been passed by the House and are now in the Missouri Senate.  With the exception of the economic development bill, none of the other bills have been passed out of Senate committees and are not available for debate by the Missouri Senate, much less have the opportunity for the Missouri Senate to vote on these bills and get them to the Governor’s desk.

This legislative agenda addresses the interests and needs of Missouri families.  This agenda puts Missouri on the path to prosperity from reductions to the state income tax liability for Missouri families, reducing the tax burden of our small businesses, and improving our economic development toolkit to assist qualifying businesses to stay and locate in Missouri preserving and creating family supporting jobs. 

This agenda preserves our constitutional rights relating to public prayer to the protection and preservation of our 2^nd Amendment rights to asserting our state sovereignty under the 10^th Amendment.

The Missouri House believes taxpayers should be protected from the false philanthropy of bureaucrats and politicians with the taxpayer bill of rights and reforming our tax code to reward saving and individual industry while promoting tax simplification through the fair tax.

With two weeks left and the lack movement by the Missouri Senate on these issues time is running out.  Next week will be consumed with finalizing the state budget for the next fiscal year which must be completed by the constitutional deadline of 6pm on Friday, May 8.  After that the General Assembly must adjourn for the year by the constitutional deadline of 6pm on Friday, May 15.

It is now crunch time.  No bill should be considered dead until the gavel falls on May 15, but these bills must be passed out of committee and put on the Senate calendar to have any chance for debate and passage. 

Drug Testing and Welfare

This week, the Missouri House passed legislation (HB30) which prevents drug-users from receiving welfare benefits. The legislation calls for the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish a drug-testing program for work-eligible applicants and recipients of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This is a cash-aid program and currently has NO restrictions for those who may use illegal substances. If passed and signed by the Governor, Missouri would become one of eleven states that practices drug testing provisions for welfare applicants – it’s about time.

The legislation says that to be tested, there must be "reasonable cause" to believe a person is using illegal drugs. After an administrative hearing, applicants or recipients who test positive will be declared ineligible for benefits for one year. The bill provides help to those suffering from substance abuse. The legislation requires DSS to refer the positive testing individual to a substance abuse treatment program approved by the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

This legislation is long over-due. Most employees, including the military and federal employees, are required to take a mandatory drug test. Why shouldn’t welfare recipients who receive support from OUR hard earned tax dollars be held to the same standard?

This legislation will help encourage people using drugs to stop and get help. It is a necessary intervention. If people want to receive welfare benefits, they have to be drug-free. The Senate needs to pass this bill and the Governor should sign it. This legislation will begin to help and enable our citizens to live a clean and productive lives rather than harming themselves and those around them.