Veto No. 1: No Drug Tests For Welfare Applicants

Photo by Jim Bowen

CHAPEL HILL – Your North Carolina senator, Ellie Kinnaird, has one point of positive feedback for Governor Pat McCrory’s veto of the Welfare Drug Testing bill, but she says the Governor didn’t get everything right.

“He did the right thing,” Senator Kinnaird says. “Now, as far as the fleeing felons, is this a problem? We kind of doubt it. He’s probably on pretty good grounds that they can fix it later on. I just don’t think that there are that many fugitive felons that are applying for temporary assistance for needy families or any of these social services.”

Thursday, Gov. McCrory vetoed his first bill since being in office—House Bill 392—which would have required drug screening of those applying for welfare assistance.

The executive order Gov. McCrory signed along with the veto is entitled “Strengthening Fugitive Apprehension and Protecting Public Benefits.” In a release, Gov. McCrory says he wants to “ensure that fugitive felons are not on public assistance rolls.”

However, Senator Kinnaird says there are other ways to make sure the welfare program is protected.

“They always have background checks available; they’re not that hard to come by,” Senator Kinnaird says. “What it would do is make it more selective. So, I really think that this is a common sense veto on his part, and it will greatly relieve our departments or social services that are already stretched thin.”

Gov. McCrory also says he vetoed the drug screening bill because it would be a burden on taxpayers and that other states with similar laws showed little positive feedback for fighting drug addiction.

The bill passed the house and senate in overwhelming fashion. The Senate approved it 42-4 while the House approved it 92-21 with three no votes.

‹

2,500-Person Party Leads to Numerous Calls, Charges for Orange County Property Owner

An Orange County property owner is facing numerous charges after a party on his land attended by more than 2,500 people led to underage, intoxicated revelers wandering through traffic and numerous calls for assistance. Dwight B. Poole, 60, is charged with six counts of aiding and abetting people under the age of 21 to consume […]

NATO Chief Hails ‘Historic Moment’ as Finland, Sweden Apply

Written by LORNE COOK NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests. The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to NATO, set a […]

‘The Future Is Raising Its Voice’: A Dire Mood at UN Meeting

Written by EDITH M. LEDERER Racism, climate change and worsening divisions among nations and cultures topped the agenda Wednesday as leaders from China to Costa Rica, from Finland to Turkey to the United Nations itself outlined reasons why the world isn’t working as it should — and what must be done quickly to fix it. […]

Global Sting: FBI-Run Messaging App Tricks Organized Crime

Written by MIKE CORDER and NICK PERRY Criminal gangs divulged plans for moving drug shipments and carrying out killings on a messaging app secretly run by the FBI, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday, as they unveiled a global sting operation they said dealt an “unprecedented blow” to organized crime in countries around the world. The operation […]

Finland Deploys Coronavirus-Sniffing Dogs at Main Airport

Finland has deployed coronavirus-sniffing dogs at the Nordic country’s main international airport in a four-month trial of an alternative testing method that could become a cost-friendly and quick way to identify infected travelers. Four dogs of different breeds trained by Finland’s Smell Detection Association started working Wednesday at the Helsinki Airport as part of the government-financed […]

Chapel Hill Police Department Preparing for Start of UNC Fall Semester

As the summer winds down, Chapel Hill is preparing for the beginning of the school year and all the increased activity that comes with it. Football Saturdays and students returning to campus brings opportunity for law enforcement to come into contact with the public, and police chief Chris Blue says one of the ways the […]

UNC Professor Claims North Carolina is not a Democracy

A political science professor at UNC-Chapel Hill claimed that North Carolina is “no longer considered to be a fully functioning democracy” in a recent op-ed published by The News & Observer. Dr. Andrew Reynolds, a London-born career academic who previously taught at the University of Notre Dame, came to this conclusion by citing work done […]

Veto No. 1: No Drug Tests For Welfare Applicants

Your North Carolina senator, Ellie Kinnaird, has one point of positive feedback for Governor Pat McCrory’s veto of the Welfare Drug Testing bill, but she says the Governor didn’t get everything right.

›