On Tuesday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a new package of bills into law that would reform the state’s unemployment benefit program.
The new laws would impact job seekers who failed company-administered drug tests. If reported, job seekers who fail or refuse to take required drug tests would lose their unemployment benefits.
In a statement, Governor Snyder said, “These are necessary updates to make sure Michigan is in line with federal requirements. They will also help strengthen the unemployment insurance system by reducing fraud.” The new program is a test run that will last for a year.
The focus on potential drug use among the uninsured as a basis to deny them benefits is a controversial, Republican-backed policy that often maligns those who are unemployed and in need of government assistance. The package, titled Public Act 146 of 2013, allows businesses the choice to report failed drug results with the government. Businesses are not required under the new laws to report failed drug tests, but if they do report the results to the state, those individuals who do fail will stand to lose their unemployment benefits.
Most of these laws that connect social welfare benefits to drug use are Republican backed, although in this case enough Democrats in Michigan reached across the aisle to allow the bill to reach Governor Snyder’s desk. Similar laws were blocked in Florida and Georgia in the past few years and opponents argue that in the end these requirements uncover few drug users. According to the Drug Policy Alliance these bills are unconstitutional and unfairly target and stigmatize poor people and people of color.
Michigan was among the first states to pass a law connecting benefits like welfare and unemployment insurance to mandatory drug testing, and in 2003 that law was struck down by a federal appeals court. There is a strong legal argument that these laws violate the 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
A policy argument against drug testing laws is that they are costly and put a burden on a state’s limited resources. The ACLU, who argued against Michigan’s law in 2003, said after that case settled, “This settlement should send a message to the rest of the nation that drug testing programs like these are neither an appropriate nor effective use of a state’s limited resources.”
The Drug Policy Alliance says, “The cost per “find” from drug testing could be anywhere from $500 to thousands of dollars. There is no data that supports the idea that recipients of government benefits are more likely drug users than anyone else and connecting benefits that low-income people need to feed their families.”
This unfair stigmatization of the poor is becoming more commonplace as Republicans on all levels cut back on benefits in the name of budgetary constraints. The truth is that a political agenda is driving their push to test those in most need of either a job or unemployment benefits and blocking their access to both seems beyond the pale because it forces the least fortunate to give up their fundamental rights in order to put food on the table.
Follow Zerlina Maxwell on Twitter at @ZerlinaMaxwell.