Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires drug screenings in order to receive unemployment benefits.

Highlights:

• Requires the local director of the Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare (VIEW) program to screen each participant during the initial VIEW assessment and periodically thereafter in order to determine if there is probable cause the participant is engaged in the use of illegal substances (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that the periodic screening of a VIEW participant may not exceed once every 6 months (Sec. 1).

• Requires the Department to procure a company to perform a drug test on a VIEW participant if the participant’s screening indicated a reason to believe that the participant was engaged in the use of illegal substances (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits an individual who fails or refuses to participate in a screening, or who tests positive for the use of illegal substances, from receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)  payments for 12 months (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes an individual deemed ineligible for TANF to have 1 opportunity within 12 months to enter and fully comply with a drug treatment program in order to be reinstated to the program (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that the provisions of this act shall not take effect until an appropriation of general funds is approved and becomes law (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text