News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TN Lawmakers Try Again for Welfare Drug Testing

By Baskin/Tennessean

Nashville, TN – Tennessee lawmakers are once again proposing a bill that would require drug testing for welfare recipients. The cost of the measure has previously stalled its progress in the legislature. Representative Bill Dunn of Knoxville sponsored the legislation. He told The Tennessean he hopes a review of the fiscal note will bring the cost down and get the proposal moving again. Critics believe the drug testing bill would be tough on an already struggling population. Lawmakers did approve a law that cuts off welfare recipients who have been convicted of drug-related felonies unless they enroll in a treatment program.