Introduced in January 2011, HB 353 passed the Florida House by a vote of 78-38 on April 26 and the Senate by a vote of 26-11 on May 4. The bill was signed into law by Florida’s governor, Rick Scott, on May 31, with an effective date of July 1.
Florida's Governor Rick Scott made true a campaign promise and signed a new law that will begin testing welfare recipients for illicit drug use according to a May 31, 2011 article by Reuters. The article said, "supporters say it will help ensure that taxpayer money is used to get families on their feet and not to fuel drug habits at state expense."
The article also said that after July 1, 2011 any "recipients who test positive for drugs would be denied benefits for a year." A three year denial of benefits would be enforced to those who failed a second test. The federal food stamp program will not be affected by this new law.
No comments:
Post a Comment