Amendment to Senate Budget Resolution

This amendment would have required states to impose drug testing on Temporary Assistance of Needy Families (TANF) applicants and recipients.[1] State would then be required to withhold TANF assistance for two years to any applicant or recipient who, after initially testing positive and having been offered treatment, again tested positive.[2]

• This amendment is not based on demonstrated abuse of the program, as recipients of public assistance are no more likely to use illegal substances than non-recipients.[3]
• Mandatory drug testing jeopardizes applicants’ and recipients’ Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.[4]
• Drug testing is costly and inefficient, and is an ineffective way of identifying substance abusers. Screening is a much more effective means of identifying substance abuse, and allows scarce resources to be directed toward treatment.[5]

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= vote to fight poverty = vote against fighting poverty = no vote