EDITORIAL: Changes in drug-testing bill welcome
Published 1:10 am, Saturday, March 30, 2013
State Sen. Jane Nelson deserves faint praise for allowing some important changes to her bill that would have required drug tests for all recipients of welfare in Texas. She agreed to limit the drug tests to recipients who were suspected of drug use or had previous drug convictions.
Also, if drug use is detected in adult recipients, their children wouldn't automatically lose their benefits. That money could go to a "protective payee," who would usually be a relative.
Those changes make sense, since most studies show that these tests are not cost-effective because drug use is not unusually high for welfare recipients.
Even though some people think it's rampant, most states don't require these kinds of drug tests because it's not worth the time or trouble.
The basic concept of her bill remains questionable.
But these modifications are a big improvement over a sweeping proposal that relied more on myth than fact.