NC Senate OKs Drug Testing for Work First Program

RALEIGH – Applicants for North Carolina’s Work First worker-training program will have to undergo drug testing to qualify for benefits, and pay for the drug testing upfront. This bill was approved by the Republican-led Senate, which voted strongly within party lines (35-15) to pass this legislation.

Senate Bill S 594 will require Work First recipients will pay for the cost of drug testing up front, and the state to reimburse them once they pass. A legislative staff attorney confirmed that multiple tests would be needed to screen for all illegal substances, and the combined cost could easily exceed $100 per program participant.

Those who pass the screening would be reimbursed in future assistance payments, and those who fail could reapply in a year after completing a treatment program at their own expense and passing a test. Current law already requires local social service agencies to screen for substance abusers using experts or doctors in addiction fields, but no drug testing is required.

Many Democratic legislators opposed the bill, saying that such get-tough strategy have gone too far, and called the bill mean-spirited.

Sen. Angela Bryant, D-Nash, stated, “The bill is unconstitutional because applicants are being forced to submit bodily fluids for testing even when there’s no suspicion that the person is a drug user. The bill only perpetuates erroneous stereotypes about poor parents and drug abuse, that ultimately punish children who need services.”

Sen. Gladys Robinson, D-Guilford, offered an amendment that (in part) would require all members of the General Assembly, including the governor and other members of the Council of State to submit to a drug test before getting sworn in, and annually thereafter; but Senate Republicans used a parliamentary rule to avoid a vote on the measure. Chief bill sponsor Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon, said he’d be willing to submit to a drug test so as long as he wouldn’t have to pay for it if he passed the test.

Two Democrats, Sens. Gene McLaurin of Richmond County and Michael Walters of Robeson County, joined all Republicans in supporting the measure.

Currently, more than 21,000 people are enrolled in North Carolina’s Work First program, meaning the state could be liable for at least $2.1 million in reimbursements.