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KS Dems Include Drug Tests for Lawmakers Alongside Welfare Recipients

A Republican bill that would require drug testing for anyone receiving welfare or unemployment is still alive, but Democrats were able to force an amendment that will require lawmakers to face the same testing if the law passes. Democratic Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau believes such a test unfairly stereotypes the poor:

"Why do we think that poor women with children are using drugs more than the average citizen who does not need that additional assistance?"

This week a federal appeals court upheld a ban on mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients in Florida. Governor Rick Scott vowed in a statement posted online to appeal to the Supreme Court:

"The court’s ruling today is disturbing. Welfare is 100 percent about helping children. Welfare is taxpayer money to help people looking for jobs who have children. Drug use by anyone with children looking for a job is totally destructive. This is fundamentally about protecting the wellbeing of Florida families. We will protect children and families in our state, and this decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court.”"

-GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/28/1190545/-KS-Dems-Include-Drug-Tests-for-Lawmakers-Alongside-Welfare-Recipients