Deal Reached to Require Drug Testing for Jobless Benefits

[redqueen]

Please note that Huffington Post reported yesterday that Democrats said yesterday that no deal had been reached.

This source (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-201202160942usnewsusnwr201202150215payrollfeb16,0,4205779.story) says a deal has been reached but it still has to be signed off on by rank and file Dems. (?)

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/02/ui_insurance_update.html

(snip)

The provision will disproportionately impact low-wage workers who are both more likely to be unemployed and more likely to apply for jobs that require drug testing. It may be vulnerable to constitutional challenges if states actually implement these sorts of policies: many advocates argue that the imposing drug tests on the benefit program violates the 4th amendment protection against unreasonable search ans seizure. As I wrote earlier this week:

In May, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill requiring applicants to the state’s welfare program to urinate in a cup before being approved for the program. Just five months after the bill’s passage, a court blocked the law, finding it a violation of the constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure. If other states succeed in passing legislation they’re likely to face similar constitutional challenges, though state legislators may craft their bills to avoid the Fourth Amendment pitfalls.

In addition to restricting unemployed folk’s access to the program, the provision also significantly stigmatizes the unemployed. Though there are no signs that benefit applicants are likely to be drug users—indeed there are plenty of indications that that idea is an ideological fallacy—its inclusion will no doubt be followed by a growing number of state-based efforts to pass bills restricting access to the jobless program. It’s not clear if applicants will be responsible paying for their own drug tests. If that is the case, applying for benefits could become prohibitive for many.

The other significant piece of the agreement announced yesterday is that after 10 extensions of the expanded unemployment insurance program, this begins a process of the program’s retraction. If passed, the duration of jobless benefit receipt would fall from a maximum of 99 weeks to a maximum of 73 weeks in the next year. This would hit the long term unemployed as soon at it begins taking effect in the Spring and as time goes on, more and more will fall off the end of benefits.

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[HockeyMom]

1. Excessed, Outsourced, and Offshored

These people aren't burger flippers. Yep, you must be on DRUGS to lose your job. Maybe in a Right to Work state nobody would know. Is that the plan?