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YES
Welfare is a gift. The gift-giver, in this case is the taxpayer, has every right to set pre-conditions on that gift, as is proposed in an Illinois House bill.
Asking adults who receive welfare to pass a drug test is not an assault on civil rights. It is a pre-condition.
On the extreme other end of this spectrum we have employers who require their employees and prospective employees to take drug tests.
Those who oppose drug tests for welfare recipients like to claim this idea perpetuates stereotypes and strips people of their right against illegal search and seizure.
Stereotypes are hurtful and illustrate ignorance. But, the fear of perpetuating stereotypes is no reason to kill this idea.
Illegal search and seizure claims are ridiculous, given that the state provides the funds to keep a roof over a welfare recipient’s head and food in their bellies.
Kids who want to play in band at many schools have to take drug tests.
If we test tuba players there is no harm in testing a 34-year-old mother of three to assure her welfare money is not buying drugs.
Anyone who does not like these terms is free to avoid welfare and struggle in the marketplace, as those who pay for welfare do.
Responsible welfare recipients have nothing to fear.
NO
With the financial situation Illinois is in, any and every state program should expect cuts— including the welfare program.
However, forcing residents to undergo drug testing to receive welfare is one change that should absolutely not be made.
Sure, millions of taxpayer dollars are lost to waste and fraud through the welfare system, but there are other ways to combat that rather than violating Illinoisans’ civil rights.
There’s never a good time to subject citizens to unreasonable searches and seizures, but if there ever were one, this surely is not it.
Illinois currently faces an unemployment rate of greater than 9 percent. What happens to those who fail or refuse to take the test? Will they automatically have their sole income source cut to nothing?
Obviously drug abuse is a serious issue, but cutting off the welfare from those that have a drug addiction is not the answer. If anything, the state should help them cure their addiction rather than potentially make it worse by holding their monthly checks.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this economic climate is no time to abandon some of the state’s neediest citizens just to save a few dollars.
YES
Welfare is a gift. The gift-giver, in this case is the taxpayer, has every right to set pre-conditions on that gift, as is proposed in an Illinois House bill.
Asking adults who receive welfare to pass a drug test is not an assault on civil rights. It is a pre-condition.
On the extreme other end of this spectrum we have employers who require their employees and prospective employees to take drug tests.
Those who oppose drug tests for welfare recipients like to claim this idea perpetuates stereotypes and strips people of their right against illegal search and seizure.
Stereotypes are hurtful and illustrate ignorance. But, the fear of perpetuating stereotypes is no reason to kill this idea.
Illegal search and seizure claims are ridiculous, given that the state provides the funds to keep a roof over a welfare recipient’s head and food in their bellies.
Kids who want to play in band at many schools have to take drug tests.
If we test tuba players there is no harm in testing a 34-year-old mother of three to assure her welfare money is not buying drugs.
Anyone who does not like these terms is free to avoid welfare and struggle in the marketplace, as those who pay for welfare do.
Responsible welfare recipients have nothing to fear.
NO
With the financial situation Illinois is in, any and every state program should expect cuts— including the welfare program.
However, forcing residents to undergo drug testing to receive welfare is one change that should absolutely not be made.
Sure, millions of taxpayer dollars are lost to waste and fraud through the welfare system, but there are other ways to combat that rather than violating Illinoisans’ civil rights.
There’s never a good time to subject citizens to unreasonable searches and seizures, but if there ever were one, this surely is not it.
Illinois currently faces an unemployment rate of greater than 9 percent. What happens to those who fail or refuse to take the test? Will they automatically have their sole income source cut to nothing?
Obviously drug abuse is a serious issue, but cutting off the welfare from those that have a drug addiction is not the answer. If anything, the state should help them cure their addiction rather than potentially make it worse by holding their monthly checks.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this economic climate is no time to abandon some of the state’s neediest citizens just to save a few dollars.
