The current session of the Indiana Legislature has produced plenty of initiatives that play well to the majority party’s base.
House Bill 1007 fulfills that objective. If passed, the proposal would push welfare recipients to consent to random drug tests. A person who receives funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program but does not consent to random drug tests could be tested nonetheless if a TANF official has reasonable suspicion the recipient is a drug user.
Those who consent to testing would not immediately lose their benefits, but would be required to pass three consecutive tests. Those who did not consent and failed a test given for reasonable suspicion would lose benefits for six months automatically. The system would begin as a pilot program in a few selected counties.
The bill, authored by Rep. Jud McMillan, R-Brookville, resonates with some Hoosiers as a crackdown on people seen as getting something for nothing. And, indeed, accountability is important in any governmental action. But there should be a valid reason why the poor are being targeted to waive their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, protecting Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures, and abuse of government authority. For the neediest Hoosiers, accepting help should not mean giving up the right to equal protection under the law.
No specific statistical red flags support the idea that public-assistance recipients have substance abuse problems. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, cited in an Indiana Daily Student report, concluded that between 5 and 10 percent of welfare recipients have substance abuse problems. Rates for the general population are just a few percentage points lower. McMillan told the IDS that no statistics exist on the percentage of Indiana welfare recipients with substance abuse problems.
To their credit, though, the legislators are now subjecting themselves to similar scrutiny. An amendment to the bill by Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend, originally called for legislators to undergo random drug and alcohol testing. The amendment has since been stripped of the alcohol testing, and limits drug tests to 50 percent of the legislators. Like welfare recipients, the lawmakers must consent to the test, but the names of those who refuse would be made public. A failed drug test could result in the loss of privileges, such as reserved parking and office space at the Statehouse, franked mail, and partisan staffing.
McMillan told the IDS, “If we are going to ask people to subject themselves to drug tests and ask them to consent, I don’t think there’s a problem with telling people in the Legislature, ‘Look, do the same thing.’”
That sounds noble. But, in the absence of statistical evidence on drug use by Indiana lawmakers and Hoosier welfare recipients, hunches must be used, and that is not a sound basis for a law. Nearly everyone will find that one group or the other seems unfairly targeted. Thus, the bill should not move forward.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Drug-testing bill lacks fairness and decency
No sound basis for targeting groups
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