This bill requires the department of human services to implement a program of substance abuse testing for adult recipients of public assistance who the department has reasonable cause to believe engage in the illegal use of controlled substance. Any sample that tests positive would automatically be retested to rule out a false positive. Any person whose sample tests positive upon retesting would have an opportunity to appeal the denial or cessation of public assistance benefits. Any public assistance recipient who tests positive for the use of a controlled substance that was not prescribed to the recipient by a licensed health care provider will be ineligible to receive benefits for one year. This bill requires the department to report on the testing program annually to the senate general welfare, health and human resources committee and the house health and human resources committee. This bill will take effect upon becoming a law for rulemaking purposes and on January 1, 2012, for all other purposes.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 4-29-246(a), 4-29-246, 4-29-252(a), 4-29-252