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Joyner files bill to repeal TANF drug testing

Posted Sep 20, 2011 by Catherine Whittenburg, Tallahassee bureau

Updated Sep 20, 2011 at 10:32 AM

Tampa Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D) has filed a bill to repeal Florida’s new policy of drug-testing applicants for welfare.

The ACLU announced earlier this month that it was suing Florida over the new policy, arguing that it constitutes an “unreasonable search” by the government, in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Gov. Rick Scott, who pushed for the law, has claimed that it will save the state money and ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent to support families instead of drug habits.

Scott has also claimed that welfare recipients use drugs at a higher rate than the general population. So far, however, only about 2 percent of applicants have failed the test; federal stats show that the general population uses drugs at a rate of about 8 percent.

Here’s what Joyner says today in her release:

“Not only are the Republicans wasting money by requiring a test that most applicants pass, but the process was already in place that made a lot more sense and wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime. Instead of targeting those we know use illegal drugs, they put the financial burden on everyone to prove that they don’t, racking up the costs to taxpayers through reimbursements and an expensive court fight. Their politics trumped their common sense.”