Fincher bill requires drug test for welfare

WASHINGTON — Introducing legislation Monday that was banned as unconstitutional just last week in Florida, U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher would require those receiving or applying for federal welfare benefits to submit to illegal drugs testing.

The Welfare Integrity Act would require states to certify that applicants and current recipients are being randomly tested for illegal drugs.

In a statement released Monday, the West Tennessee Republican’s office says the bill attempts to “pass constitutional muster” by providing a consent and waiver form “where applicants are given the choice to waive their Fourth Amendment Rights and submit to a random drug test.”

It was unclear what the consequence would be for those who declined to waive their rights not to be subject to what the Constitution calls “unreasonable” searches.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, said such laws are both “unconstitutional and mean-spirited.”

Weinberg added that the waiver provision intimidates individuals into giving up rights in order to receive benefits to which they are entitled and is “punitive and limited to low-income individuals.” By contrast, she said vet- erans are not drug tested before receiving benefits, and students with federal student loans are not subject to such invasive tests.

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta on Feb. 26 upheld a lower-court ruling that a Florida law requiring “suspicionless” drug tests for welfare recipients was unconstitutional.

Under Fincher’s bill, states that cannot certify that programs are in place capable of testing 20 percent of applicants will lose 10 percent of their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding.

The federal government provided $277 million in TANF funding to Tennessee in 2011, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.