Welfare proposals aimed at drug users

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawmaker who sparked a furor last year by proposing that the state pay poor women to have themselves sterilized will push this year to ban drug felons from receiving government assistance for up to 10 years.
State Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, also wants to require drug testing for all adults receiving welfare under a family assistance program. The proposals, unveiled at a news conference Monday, are likely to generate debate — but not the uproar prompted by the sterilization idea, which LaBruzzo soon abandoned.
State law now bans drug felons from obtaining public assistance for one year from the date of conviction. LaBruzzo’s bill would expand that to 10 years; however, a drug felon who goes through a drug treatment program approved by the Department of Social Services could become eligible for assistance two years after completing the program.
As for drug testing, current law calls for drug testing of “certain” adult recipients of aid through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program but leaves it to the state Department of Social Services to determine which recipients will be tested. LaBruzzo’s bill would require testing for all adult TANF recipients.
DSS currently does no routine testing of recipients for drugs.