Pubdate: Wed, 02 Jul 2014
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2014 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Ariel Hart
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

WELFARE DRUG TEST ENFORCEMENT ON HOLD

Governor's Office Cites Related Florida Case.

Opponents of Law That Took Effect Tuesday Preparing to Sue.

The state will hold off on implementation until a court rules on a 
related Florida case, As a new state law to drug test welfare 
recipients went into effect Tuesday, state officials said they will 
delay enforcing it, even as opponents were girding to sue.

With the passage this spring of House Bill 772, the Georgia 
Legislature and Gov. Nathan Deal approved the nation's 
hardest-hitting law that calls for drug tests on recipients of poverty aid.

But a spokesman for Deal, Brian Robinson, on Tuesday told The Atlanta 
Journal-Constitution that the state will hold off on implementing HB 
772 until a federal appeals court rules on a related Florida case, so 
as not to waste money on a legal fight.

It is unclear how much a ruling in Florida would affect Georgia's 
effort because the Georgia law, once very similar to Florida's, is 
now different.

Some critics said the delay is legally senseless and raised again the 
possibility that the law is just political grandstanding on the backs 
of the poor. Others disagreed. State officials said they are just 
defending taxpayers.

A separate part of Georgia's law, which would have applied drug tests 
to food stamp recipients, has already been thrown out. The part of 
the law that applies to the state's 16,000 welfare recipients has not.

In any case, lawyers at the Southern Center for Human Rights, who 
oppose the Georgia drug-testing law, are gathering legal research in 
preparation for action. Gerry Weber, an SCHR attorney, said he highly 
doubted the state could write guidelines that would make the law 
palatable, "but anything's possible."

Jason Williamson, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in 
New York who tracks such laws in states, said the Florida case was no 
longer relevant to Georgia, and Deal's reason for not implementing 
the law right away smacked of avoidance, or political posturing.

Georgia in 2012 did have a law similar to Florida's. So when courts 
smacked down Florida's program, it was about the same as smacking 
down Georgia's 2012 law.

But based on that experience, the Georgia Legislature went back and 
rewrote the law in 2014. Instead of attempting to test every welfare 
recipient, Georgia's new law has a screen for reasonable suspicion. 
Arguments now may turn on whether it's a reasonable screen.

Weber, however, said there was logic to the delay, as there are 
additional issues in the Florida case that could be relevant in Georgia.

Linda Lowe, who lobbied in vain against the bill on behalf of the 
group Families First, still waits on tenterhooks.

"People are already struggling when they go to apply for (welfare)," 
she said, noting that the maximum benefit for a family of three was 
$280 per month. "Having to come up with the money for a drug test and 
not get reimbursed is a special problem. They're already in desperate 
straits."

Robinson said such details as making poor people pay for their drug 
tests even if they test clean were the work of the bill's sponsor, 
Rep. Greg Morris, R-Vidalia, not Deal. But he defended the "overall 
principle."

"Gov. Deal signed the bill because he believes taxpayers who foot the 
bill for these programs should have some assurance that the 
recipients are work-ready," Robinson said. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom