The first batch of prefiled bills includes measures that would impose drug testing on those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), and restrict access to food assistance during economic downturns.

The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Tommy Hanes, R-Bryant.

HB 3 would require screening of SNAP applicants “if there is a reasonable suspicion” the applicant is under the influence of drugs. Reasonable suspicion would include a drug conviction within the previous five years. A positive test would lead to a warning; a second positive test would lead to denial of benefits. The state would be able to permanently deny benefits to a recipient upon a third positive test.

Hanes wrote in an email Friday that the drug testing bill, if passed, “will help assure minors living in the households (receiving SNAP) will get proper nourishment,” adding that “the working class citizens of this state have been asking for this type of legislation for years.”

Critics say the measures exaggerate illicit activity among those receiving benefits through the program, and a waste of money.

“For the state to pay to drug test that many people would be prohibitively expensive and be a real waste of state dollars and a real waste of taxpayer dollars, looking for an occasional recipient who does drugs,” said Carol Gundlach, a policy analyst with Alabama Arise, which works on poverty issues.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, about 850,000 Alabamians a month received SNAP assistance in 2016, roughly 6 percent of the total state population.

The state would bear the cost of the first drug screening, but subsequent ones would be conducted by the Department of Human Services.

HB 9 would prevent the state from seeking waivers from guidelines limiting SNAP accessibility to able-bodied individuals without children. Currently, the state can seek waivers during times of high unemployment.

Hanes wrote in an email that the bill would “give these people a sense of pride just knowing they are becoming more dependent upon themselves instead of the government.”

Other states have generally found a small number of recipients using drugs when testing those applying for benefits. Between August 2012 and July 2013, Utah gave 4,730 welfare applicants a written test, then gave 466 of those a drug test after responses suggested a high probability of drug use. The drug tests cost $25,000 but only 12 people tested positive.