Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires drug screening for certain welfare recipients.

Highlights:

• Authorizes the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to determine the appropriate mechanism by which to drug-screen individuals applying to participate in certain work experience programs (Sec. 1).

• Exempts from the controlled substances screening and testing requirements a custodial parent of a child up to 8 weeks old, a woman with a high-risk pregnancy, a Wisconsin Works (W-2) participant who moves to an unsubsidized job and receives only case management services, and a dependent child (Sec. 9).

• Specifies that the following W-2 work experience programs for custodial parents are added to the programs to which the screening and testing requirements apply (Sec. 9):

• The Temporary Employment Match program, which provides a subsidy for wages to an individual's employer; and

• The Community Service Jobs program and Transitional Placement program, both of which provide a participant with a monthly grant.

• Specifies that an individual applying for a community service job or a transitional placement is eligible for monthly grants at a reduced price under certain DCF programs even if the individual tests positive for the use of a controlled substance without presenting evidence of a valid prescription and refuses to participate in a drug treatment program (Secs. 10-11).

• Specifies that in certain cases, monthly grants that are reduced due to a positive test for drugs must be paid not to the individual who was tested positive but to a protective payee who must use it exclusively on behalf of the individual’s dependent children (Secs. 11-12).

Full Bill Text