JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri House passed a bill Thursday that would require welfare recipients to pass drug tests to continue to receive benefits.
The bill passed 114-39, with all dissenting votes coming from Democrats. Reps. Dr. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, and Martin Rucker, D-St. Joseph, voted for approval.
Dr. Schaaf is chairman of the House Healthcare Transformation Committee, which gave the green light to the bill on Jan. 11 after one day of testimony. The bill was one of the first to pass out of a committee this session.
“People are sick and tired of having their hard-earned tax dollars given to people who take those dollars and use drugs,” Dr. Schaaf said.
The House version of the bill would require the Department of Social Services to test recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds whom it suspects are using illegal, nonprescription drugs. If a recipient fails a drug test, he or she would be ineligible to receive TANF benefits for a year.
If a TANF recipient who fails a drug screen was living with other TANF recipients, including children, they still would be eligible for welfare.
After the bill passed Dr. Schaaf’s committee, an amendment was added that would require elected lawmakers to submit to a drug test before they take office, and every two years thereafter.
House Minority Floor Leader J.C. Kuessner, D-Eminence, who voted against the bill, said he approved of the amendment that would require state lawmakers to take drug tests, but said he would be “amazed” if that provision remained in the measure before it is passed into law.
Mr. Kuessner said the Republican majority pushed the bill through the House for “political purposes” and that more time should have been taken to assess the potential costs to single-parent families and state agencies.
The estimated initial cost for the state to implement the program in its first year is more than $2.6 million, according to the House bill.
The Senate also argued a version of the bill Thursday — one that does not contain a provision that would require lawmakers to pass a drug screen – but was still deliberating proposed amendments when the day’s session ended.
If the Senate passes a version of the bill, both versions of the measure could be reconciled in a committee if leaders of the chambers cannot agree to move forward with one of the bills. |
