Texas Legislators Battle the Clock and Each Other on Controversial Welfare Drug Testing Bill & State Budget

Posted byHoumanitarian

WEDNESDAY TOP NEWS LINKS:

Photo by: Marjorie Kamys Coter (Texas Tribune)

Emily Ramshaw & Chris Hooks,
Texas Tribune
In a surprising reversal, the Texas House allowed the clock to run out Tuesday night on Senate Bill 11, an initiative that would have created a drug testing regimen for some welfare benefits.

After a marathon debate and a night of procedural and delay tactics, just hours after it voted to require drug testing for unemployment applicants, the House failed to reach a vote on SB 11 before time ran out on a midnight deadline to approve the bill.

Senate Bill 11, by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, would have required adults receiving benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to submit to a drug test if their responses to a screening questionnaire indicate possible drug use.

Under the bill, a person who tested positive for drugs would be ineligible for financial assistance for six months. A second positive drug test would trigger a 12-month penalty, and a third positive result would make the applicant permanently ineligible for TANF benefits.

The bill’s House sponsor, state Rep. Walter T. “Four” Price, R-Amarillo, said that TANF already required benefit recipients to be drug-free — and that the measure simply enforced that requirement. The bill passed easily out of the upper chamber last month, but it attracted fierce opposition in the House.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said the bill was unconstitutional and invited future legal challenges.
“Are people using their food stamps to go buy drugs? I categorically deny that,” he said. “Let me just tell you, it’s hell to be poor. And it’s certainly hell to be poor in the state of Texas.”

After nearly two hours of debate, Price announced his intention to pull the bill, predicting the debate would drag on and ultimately kill other bills. The House faced a midnight deadline to give tentative approval to Senate bills. But supporters of SB 11 convinced Price to continue.

Democrats resumed their attack against the bill, and lawmakers adopted one amendment that would have required drug testing for legislators. After more delays and parliamentary maneuvers, the clock struck midnight before the House could vote.
Read more of this article at Texas Tribune

OTHER STORIES ON LEGISLATIVE ACTION:
• Multiple Bills Key to Holding Budget Deal in Place (Texas Tribune
• Lawmakers to Negotiate Key Details of Education Bills (Texas Tribune)
• DNA Testing Mandate Gets Early House Approval (Texas Tribune)

LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:

STATE HEADLINES:

NATION & WORLD: