Residents, Lawmakers Sound Off About Bill Requiring Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Governor Rick Scott signed a bill Tuesday that will require people who receive government assistance to take a drug test in order to receive benefits.
"The goal of this is to make sure the taxpayers aren't paying for someone to take illegal drugs," Scott said.
The law requires every person who applies for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program to pay for the drug test. If the test comes back negative, then the state will pick up the cost. If it's positive, the person loses benefits for one year.
"In some ways I think it's a good thing," agreed 36-year-old Jacksonville resident Casandra Greene.
Greene depends on public assistance to feed her eight children. She said she understands some people abuse the system and she hopes the law will make them think twice.
But Greene thinks it's too bad those people have to hurt parents like her who are trying to do right by their kids.