David Vitter is the junior U.S. Senator from Louisiana and he is a member of the Republican Party. In the Senate Vitter serves on many committees and he is making a strong statement today about drug testing for welfare recipients.
“Drug testing ensures that welfare truly helps those in need. A Welfare reform was in 1994 and in 1996 Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act. President Clinton signed it. This cut welfare rolls from 4.6 families receiving cash benefits in 1996 to 2.1 million in 2002 and resulted in significantly more people getting jobs or getting into job training programs. Now, we are overdue to renew welfare reform efforts and make additional gains.”
“Our provision in every renewed welfare reform effort should be to require recipients to undergo random drug tests as a condition of receiving benefits.” This report from Vitter stated that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reported in 2007 that about 20 percent of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients is saying that they used an illicit drug at least once in the past year and at least 5 percent admitted to having a substance abuse addiction.
Louisiana drug rehabs might find themselves with many more patients on their hands soon if this legislation passes.
Senator Vitter of Louisiana feels that random testing would accomplish two vital goals: 1) help those recipients with drug problems conquer them by identifying the problem, offering treatment and not paying them until they get help; and 2) not waste precious taxpayer dollars on buying drugs.
There are some critics that say that mandatory drug testing is an unfair attack on the poor. They also know that one of the reasons to require these tests is to help those who do have a drug abuse problem. There is also an idea that this is something that millions of private employers do require of employees in order for them to work for a paycheck. Welfare recipients should be in agreement with these tests.
Monroe inpatient drug rehab facilities might not be prepared to deliver such testing, however.
Vitter is stated as saying, “Requiring screenings would give addicts a key incentive to seek help so that they can once again be healthy, support their own families, and make positive contributions to our society. “ Senator Vitter further stated, “Screenings would identify cases of dependency and would be paired with treatment programs to directly address the single biggest problem in their lives.”
It remains to be seen if this will be passed in the near future. There are also speculations from the GOP that drug tests for unemployment applicants will be voted on this year also.
