Drug Testing to Collect Unemployment Benefits

Washington:Trump Administration to allow states to drug test applicants for unemployment benefits.

BILLING CODE: 4510-FW-P  

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
20 CFR Part 620
RIN 1205-AB81
Federal-State Unemployment Compensation Program; Establishing Appropriate
Occupations for Drug Testing of Unemployment Compensation Applicants under the
Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) is issuing this final rule to
permit States to drug test unemployment compensation (UC) applicants and to identify
occupations that the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) has determined regularly conduct drug
testing. These regulations implement the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012
(the Act) amendments to the Social Security Act (SSA), permitting States to enact legislation
that would allow State UC agencies to conduct drug testing on UC applicants for whom suitable
work (as defined under the State law) is available only in an occupation that regularly conducts
drug testing (as determined under regulations issued by the Secretary). The Secretary is required
under the SSA to issue regulations determining those occupations that regularly conduct drug
testing. These regulations succeed a final rule issued on August 1, 2016, that Congress rescinded
under the authority of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). These regulations, as required
under the CRA, are not substantially the same as the rescinded final rule.
This document is scheduled to be published in the
Federal Register on 10/04/2019 and available online at
https://federalregister.gov/d/2019-21227, and on govinfo.gov

 Press Release:  

**Statement on DOL Rule Allowing Drug Testing for Unemployment Benefits Drugpolicy.org

Contact: 
Matt Sutton 212-613-8026
msutton@drugpolicy.org 
New York, NY – Below is a statement from Grant Smith, Deputy Director of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, in response to a final rule by the Trump Administration to allow states to drug test applicants for unemployment benefits:

“Drug testing applicants in order to receive benefits they need to survive is deeply inhumane and stigmatizing, not to mention a complete waste of tax payer dollars. From what we have seen in places where state-run drug testing schemes were implemented for TANF benefits, the vast majority of people tested negative and the costs of testing and implementation far exceeded the cost of providing the benefits in the first place. Moreover, drug tests do not diagnose or treat and are prone to false positives.”