WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, says hearing stories about unemployment insurance abuse from southeast Georgia businessmen prompted him to draft a bill that would require applicants for unemployment compensation pass a drug use assessment that might include a drug test.
"I had an employer tell me of an overwhelming response for job openings," Kingston said. "There was just one problem: half the people who applied could not even pass a drug test."
Kingston's bill, the Ensuring Quality in the Unemployment Insurance Program Act, would require applicants for unemployment compensation to complete a drug screening assessment as a condition for benefits.
The screening assessments, already used in some states and approved by the National Institutes of Health, are currently used in several states.
Those identified as having a high probability of drug use would be required to pass a drug test and would be subject to random screenings as long as they receive unemployment benefits. Applicants who fail would be responsible for the cost of the test and may take one additional retest at their own expense.
"While we need a safety net, taxpayers should not be on the hook to pay someone who renders themselves ineligible for work," Kingston said. "My proposal further incentivizes beneficiaries to ensure they are preparing themselves to re-enter the workforce."
Kingston said screening applicants have survived legal challenges by state courts in Indiana, Texas and New Jersey. A Federal court in West Virginia also upheld that state's practice of screening Social Security Disability Insurance recipients.
"My proposal strengthens the safety net and ensures it will be available to those who use it as a stepping stone back into the workforce," Kingston said. "It does so without increasing federal spending or placing new, unfunded mandates on the states."
A billed filed in the Georgia Legislature last year by Georgia state Rep. Michael Harden, R-Taccoa, that would have required random drug testing of those who receive unemployment benefits as well as other government assistance died after a second reading.
The American Civil Liberties Union campaigned against that bill, citing a National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism study finding that drug use among recipients of public assistance is no higher than that of the general public.