Title:
Hoosiers: Oppose mean-spirited unemployment benefits drug testing!
Message:
The Indiana Legislature is halfway to making a mistake.
S.B. 86
would declare unemployment benefit seekers ineligible if they fail or refuse to
take a prospective employer’s pre-employment drug test, even after they have
paid into the system. An earlier version of this bill would have forced
applicants to declare upon penalty of perjury that they would refrain from
marijuana use, but positive amendments have improved it. S.B. 86 passed the
Senate 48-1 on January 25 and recently passed a House committee. It is now
headed to the full House.
Please email
your representative to urge opposition to S.B. 86.
After failing or refusing to take the test, the bill would
declare that the applicant has refused an offer of suitable work, and is thus
ineligible for unemployment benefits. While this drug test is not usable in a
criminal proceeding, the applicant would remain ineligible until the applicant
has earned money again, and the applicant’s total benefits would likely be
reduced.
In other news, S.B. 192, the bill that would study Indiana’s
marijuana policy, is waiting for a hearing in the House Rules and Legislative
Procedures Committee, while S.R. 70, a similar Senate-only resolution, was
heard in committee today.
