Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is planning to introduce policy that would require low-income residents pass drug tests before they qualify for a number of welfare programs.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is planning to introduce policy that would require low-income residents pass drug tests before they qualify for a number of welfare programs.

Scott Walker/Youtube

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is planning to introduce policy that would require low-income residents pass drug tests before they qualify for a number of welfare programs.

Walker is the latest in a string of Republican lawmakers supporting the criminalization of those who qualify for state and federal aid, proposing the drug testing as a sort of jobs program for low-income Wisconsinites.

Applicants for food stamps, unemployment benefits, or Medicaid would all be required to pass a drug test under Walker’s coming budget proposal, according to Reuters.

Walker is promoting his proposal as a way to assist low-income residents in finding jobs with employers who may require applicants to pass drug tests. The plan will reportedly allow those who fail drug tests to participate in drug treatment programs as well as job training programs.

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Drug treatment programs will come at no cost to those who apply.

“We know employers in Wisconsin have jobs available, but they don’t have enough qualified employees to fill those positions,” Walker said in a statement. “With this budget, we are addressing some of the barriers keeping people from achieving true freedom and prosperity and the independence that comes with having a good job and doing it well.”

The details of Walker’s drug testing policy, including the cost or expected savings, have not been released publicly.

Laws requiring some welfare applicants to be drug tested are on the books in 12 states, and a bill proposing a similar law was recently introduced in Montana. In many cases, the implementation of such policy has failed to achieve the results promised by lawmakers.

A spokesperson for Walker told Reuters that the proposal would apply to low-income residents without children who apply for Medicaid and able-bodied residents without dependents who apply for Foodshare, Wisconsin’s food stamp program. It would also apply to applicants to the state’s job programs.

Unlike current or proposed laws in other states, Walker’s proposal would not require any screening of applicants to determine whether or not they have a prior history of drug abuse or are likely drug abusers.

Walker walked back statements indicating drug testing of Medicaid applicants would be implemented despite possible objections from federal agencies. A Walker spokesperson said that if the proposal is approved by the state legislature, the governor would ask the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to waive rules prohibiting the testing, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Walker, during a speech at WEL Companies in De Pere on Thursday, made statements that conflicted with previous reporting that indicated the program would drug test all welfare and public assistance applicants. The governor said that applicants for the programs would be asked questions and if their answers indicate a possible drug problem they would be required to take a drug test, according a report by WBAY.

“Because we’re offering the assistance (to get help) we’re not just requiring a drug test in these specific cases, but we’re actually providing people with assistance because our end goal is to get people ready to work,” Walker said. “We’re not making it harder to get government assistance, we’re making it easier to get a job.”

State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) told WBAY that there are more important budgetary priorities and that drug testing would waste state money and resources.

“We want everybody to be self reliant, but is this the best way to do it? In Florida it was declared unconstitutional,” Hansen said. “They had it in place, they spent a ton of money and what’d they capture? One or two percent of the people?”

A Florida law that required drug testing of all applicants for welfare programs, even if they were not suspected of drug use, was struck down in December by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The court ruled that the drug test constituted an unreasonable search because the state had not “demonstrated a more prevalent, unique or different drug problem among [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] applicants than in the general population.”

The Florida drug testing regime resulted in very few applicants testing positive for drug use. Records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida showed that 108 of 4,086 applicants—just 2.6 percent—tested positive for drugs.

These results have been replicated in other states that have implemented similar drug testing programs. In Utah, only 12 applicants out of 466 tested positive in the state’s program from 2012 to 2013. In Tennessee, one out of 802 welfare applicants tested positive since the state’s program was instituted July 1.