LANSING, MI (AP)-- Some Michigan welfare applicants and recipients would be required to pass drug tests under legislation approved by the Michigan House. The House passed the measure Thursday by a 71-37 vote. It now moves to the Senate.
The legislation would require the Department of Human Services to establish a program of suspicion-based substance abuse screening and testing for Family Independence Program applicants and recipients who are at least 18 years old. The program would start as a pilot program in January and expand statewide by 2015.
Grandville Republican Representative David Agema and other supporters say job applicants and workers are often required to pass drug tests.
Detroit Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib calls the measure punitive and political. She wrote a rejected amendment also requiring lawmakers to be drug-tested.
