Just this year in Florida common sense legislation was passed which made it mandatory that anyone receiving welfare or temporary aid for needy families must first receive a drug test.
Sometimes in order to break the cycle of poverty you must first break the cycle of addiction.
As a criminal prosecutor I see multiple generations of families with problems of crime, addiction and poverty, and sometimes it’s important to ask which of these causes what?
Dependent upon the study you look at you can find anywhere between 5% and 35% of welfare recipients with illicit drug habits, not just marijuana and alcohol but even worse, methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and heroin – so obviously in these cases to break the cycle of crime and poverty you must first break the cycle of addiction.
As taxpayers we have two expectations: the first is that anyone that takes advantage of the system of welfare to help themselves and their family, does so only as long as it takes to get back on their feet.
The second is that are tax dollars not be used to subsidize a persons illicit drug habit.
Where a person is found to have a problem take them off of welfare and get them into a treatment program. A program where they can treat their addiction like Narc-Anon, Alc-Anon, Private Sector programs, Churches, and Communities.
Why aren’t we doing this in Virginia.
This is the kind of common sense leadership I’ll bring to the Virginia Senate.
If you, like Senator Mark Obenshain, Jill Vogel, Delegate Bill Janiss and Rob Bell agree with us on this issue then stand with us today!
“To break the cycle of poverty, attack the cycle of addiction”
Tom has called for drug testing for welfare recipients. If law abiding citizens must go through drug testing for employment purposes, that at the very least welfare recipients should go through drug testing so that tax payer money does not go to subsidize illegal activity.
Currently, welfare or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients do not take drug tests as a condition of their receiving benefits in Virginia.
“It’s reasonable for the taxpayers, who are lending a hand, to expect that those receiving assistance do not do so any longer than necessary. It is also reasonable for the taxpayers to expect that benefits will not be used to subsidize an illegal drug habit.”
Tom’s proposal is modeled after one that was recently signed into law by Florida Governor Rick Scott.
“An idea doesn’t need to be original to be good. This makes all the sense in the world. If I am elected to the Virginia Senate, you can count on me to fight for common sense reform here in Virginia.”
State Senators Mark Obenshain and Jill Vogel, along with House of Delegates conservatives Rob Bell and Bill Janis, have joined in calling for this common sense reform to hold welfare recipients accountable for drug use and to protect tax payer money.
