Last week, Congressional Republicans pushed through a measure undoing Obama-era rules for when states can drug test applicants for unemployment insurance. But it seems House Speaker Paul Ryan wanted to save it in order to make a splash when Donald Trump signs it this week, because stigmatizing jobless workers is always worth more attention in his book.
There are so many problems with this. As a letter from nearly 50 civil rights, criminal justice, faith, and labor organizations points out, there are already measures in place to prevent drug users from getting unemployment benefits—for instance, someone whose firing had anything to do with drug use is not eligible for benefits in “virtually all” states, and six states “have passed legislation equating a failed or refused pre-employment drug screen with refusing suitable work.” Drug testing unemployment applicants is also a waste of public money, since repeated experience has shown that very few people will be screened out by the tests.
The letter details two other serious problems.