The Republicans in Tallahassee are on such a power high that they are passing bills on the data that is 10 years old.
HB 353 requires all adult recipients of federal cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to submit to drug tests, which they have to pay for. Recipients who test positive for drugs would lose their benefits for a year. If they fail a second time, they lose the benefits for three years. Parents who test positive must designate another adult to receive benefits on behalf of their children.
The bill passed the Senate 26-11 on Thursday and the House 78-38 late last month.
Is this a problem? A state-funded pilot project found found that 335 applicants out of nearly 8,800 applicants failed a drug test—-less than 4 percent. The project was conducted in the Jacksonville area between 1999 and 2001.