AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage continues his campaign to reform the state's welfare system with a bill aimed at cracking down on recipients who use illicit drugs.
LePage is proposing a drug-testing program for Mainers receiving benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as TANF. Opponents question the constitutionality of the bill and say it could hurt poor children.
LePage is a firm believer in the old adage that if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. His first attempts to require drug testing of welfare recipients were defeated in the Legislature, except for a measure that allows testing of TANF recipients that have been convicted of a drug felony.
That program went into effect late last year.
Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew says the latest proposal from the administration comes in response to growing problem.
"We know that we have got a serious problem with substance abuse in Maine," she says. "We've got to look at ways which are identifying it. If they test positive, we are offering the opportunity to participate in a substance abuse program."
The administration proposal would require all TANF recipients to submit to a drug-screening questionnaire called the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening. Anyone who fails the screen would be required to undergo a urinalysis, and those who test positive would lose benefits, unless they agree to undergo treatment.
But Oamshri Amarasingham of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine says the group believes LePage's proposal violates the constitution.
"The ACLU of Maine has consistently opposed the Administration's repeated efforts to force poor Mainers to submit to suspicionless drug tests," Amarasingham says. "We agree that Mainers are suffering from addiction but we cannot see how violating the constitutional rights of Mainers receiving TANF benefits will stem this public health crisis."
Amarasingham says the creators of the screening system, the SASSI Institute, have made clear that it is intended only as a tool to screen for substance use disorders and should not be used to deny public assistance.
Over a dozen states have similar laws already in effect. Some of those laws apply to all applicants; others include specific language requiring, for example, a reason to believe that the person is engaging in illegal drug activity or has a substance use disorder.
Florida's law was blocked by a federal judge in December as unconstitutional. Holly Lusk, a policy advisor to Gov. LePage, told lawmakers this proposal is different.
"[Florida's] style [is] wholesale, everyone gets drug tested regardless of the suspicion that anyone has as to whether they are drug users," she says. "First of all, doesn't make sense from the cost perspective, and in addition to that it doesn't make sense in terms of the constitutional perspective."
But Susan Lamb says the real victims here will be low-income children. Lamb, who is executive director of the Maine Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, testified against the LePage bill.
“The best way to treat addiction is not with a game of gotcha," she says. "People with addiction are often parents of children and those children living below the poverty level are entitled to food on the table and a roof over their heads, no matter what their parents' addictions issues are."
The legislation once again faces opposition on the committee as well. Several lawmakers questioned the constitutionality and effectiveness of the proposal.
It's expected that the panel will be split on the measure, which is likely to generate considerable floor debate.
