A proposal to have a drug test for welfare applicants in West Virginia is now heading to the governor's office following the state lawmakers' approval. West Virginia is now included among the 13 states that implement drug testing for people that needs assistance.
According to WDTV, the house voted 91 against 8 for the three-year state wide starting program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program applicants. A procedural voting would be the last step before it can reach the office of Democratic Governor Earl Ray Tomblin.
The governor said their main goal is to help people that need assistance regarding issues of drug addiction. But groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia is against the testing, claiming it is an unconstitutional search and seizure without the need of a warrant.
The test would cost $56 per person and will cost the state a total of $50,200 in the first year and $22,000 in the following years to come. A caseworker will be the one to decide who demonstrates qualitative indications of substance abuse. As reported by the Gazette Mail, those who will fail the drug test must complete a substance abuse treatment program and a job skills class. The cost will be paid by the Medicaid program. Subsequent failures would spur temporary and then permanent bans.
While other states see the program as a failure, West Virginia, which is considered a poor state with one of the worst drug epidemics in the country, described the bill as a tool to help turn people lives around. Republican John Shott said putting the people's lives back in the track is immeasurable, as per ABC News.
According to Barbara Fleischauer, who is a Democrat, the new amendment will be a villain of the 4th amendment and the constitutional privacy right. She added that targeting poor people is also a form of discrimination.
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