RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Lawmakers want suspicious applicants for North Carolina’s worker-training and welfare program to be drug-tested or fingerprinted.
The state Senate gave the bill final legislative approval Thursday. It now goes to Governor Pat McCrory for his signature.
The measure would allow county social services departments that suspect a recipient is using drugs to require a test before receiving benefits through the Work First program. Applicants would have to pay for the test, but could be repaid if they test negative.
Welfare and food stamps applicants also would see expanded background criminal history checks as agencies search for people with outstanding felony warrants, or probation or parole violations. Counties could collect fingerprints to check applicants.
Lawmakers in nearly 30 states have introduced such bills.
I have no issue with this at all, except that is is left to the discretion of the county who to test. It should be mandatory for all.
With today’s economy in a shambles and governments seeking to empower themselves at every level by seemingly seeking greater attachment to larger and increasingly more dependent people (not just citizens), we must have SOME mechanism to curtail the rampant expenditure of taxpayer monies.
We cannot run our houses they way the governments “run theirs (!)”