Pubdate: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 Source: News & Advance, The (Lynchburg, VA) Copyright: 2013 Media General Contact: http://www.newsadvance.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2087 Author: Ray Reed GENERAL ASSSEMBLY PANEL OKS DRUG SCREENS FOR BENEFITS RECIPIENTS RICHMOND - A bill requiring drug screening for people in Virginia's welfare-to-work program won subcommittee approval Thursday, with support from Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge County. The measure, which failed to win approval in the General Assembly last year, could potentially affect about 15,000 people, many of them mothers who are receiving financial assistance while trying to qualify for a job. Del. Rob Bell, sponsor of HB1789 and a candidate for attorney general, said the measure was needed because the program provides cash to recipients, not just food stamps or housing support. Cline, who represents part of Amherst County, sponsored a similar bill. It was combined with that of Bell, R-Albemarle County, in the House of Delegates' Health, Welfare and Institutions subcommittee. Cline said he sees criminals in drug-related cases where he works as a prosecutor in Rockingham County, and many of them ask for a public defender because "they are on public assistance." Taxpayers are demanding "that we be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and make sure they are used appropriately," Cline said. Representatives of several social-service agencies said there's no evidence that benefit recipients abuse drugs any more than people who receive government assistance such as college tuition grants. Representatives of the ACLU and Virginia Organizing Project said the screening unfairly singled out a group of people and might be questionable under the 4th Amendment's unreasonable-searches protection. The bill would require drug screening through a written questionnaire. If an applicant's answers create suspicion of drug use, an actual drug test would be required. Anyone failing the test would lose benefits for at least six months. The subcommittee approved the bill 5-2 and sent it to the House Appropriations Committee, which will evaluate it for the $1.5 million impact the cost of screening could have on the state budget, according to last year's estimate. Lynchburg officials last year estimated its potential impact on the city at $82,000. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D