The Donald Trump administration hopes to unveil a new Labor Department regulation in June requiring drug testing for unemployment benefits.
Republicans used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal an Obama-era regulation that limited states’ ability to limit drug testing for people who apply for unemployment benefits.
After President Trump signed the CRA repealing the Obama-era regulation, House Ways and Means chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said:
President Trump just signed into law my bill that abolishes an Obama-era rule. After five years of battling with the Obama Department of Labor, states like Texas will now be allowed to drug test folks on unemployment to ensure they are job-ready from day one. This is a win for families, workers, job creators, and local economies.
Chairman Brady proposed the bill with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who sponsored the Senate version of the CRA.
American unemployment claims remain at a 17-year record low, and American consumer sentiment reached its highest level since 2000, according to the University of Michigan.
Republicans argued that the 2016 unemployment rule only allowed unemployed Americans to submit to drug testing if they were in occupations that typically required testing, which includes airline pilots, flight crews, air traffic controllers, commercial and public transit drivers, as well as any job that requires Americans to regularly carry a firearm.
The Labor Department signaled that it planned to issue a more expansive rule redefining which jobs will have to submit to regular drug testing for unemployment claims.
In the Trump administration’s roadmap for new regulations, the Labor Department statedthat “states no longer have authority to drug test unemployment compensation applicants for whom suitable work is only available in occupations that regularly conduct drug testing for unlawful use of controlled substances.”
The Labor Department said that it will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking that “will identify the occupations that regularly conduct drug testing.”
Strategic Services on Unemployment and Workers’ Compensation President Doug Holmes said if they wish to be paid through state unemployment benefits, they need to make themselves able and available to work, and that includes passing a drug test.
Holmes suggested, “This is an insurance program, it’s not public assistance.”
Holmes then continued, arguing that the previous Labor Department rule was too restrictive.
He explained:
An individual has to be available and able to work. If they’re not available and able to work, week by week by week, then they don’t meet the requirements to be paid unemployment compensation benefits. If an individual has a significant problem that renders him or her unavailable to work, the appropriate response is to refer them to a place to get help. They should not be paid unemployment benefits.
The regulatory agenda said that the Labor Department plans to release its proposed rule in June.
Labor Department spokesman Eric Holland revealed that the agency is “diligently working on a new proposal regarding unemployment compensation drug testing that will be substantially different from the prior rule.”
“When it is ready, we will publish it in the Federal Register for review and comment by the public,” Holland added.
not until government at all levels is tested shall they move forward with the people
Government
Police
any public held office
Say goodbye to the whole enchilada, you do that, crickets…
You beat me to it. E.O.S.
Exactly. I’m surprised that a movement hasn’t already developed to drug test congress, as long as they’re insisting on testing everyone else.
maybe if we the people
flatly refused to be guinea pigs for them anymore , stopped complying , and stopped giving any of their rules any credence
thats when the rubber meets the road
Yeah….you gotta stand up and say “no”….everyone has their line in the sand.
“… states like Texas will now be allowed to drug test folks on unemployment to ensure they are job-ready from day one.”
WHAT A RETARDED LOAD OF CR@P!!!
In the first place, THERE ARE NO JOBS.
In the second place, IF THERE WERE, THEY’D GO TO A POS ILLEGAL ANYWAY.
And thirdly, the ONLY (LAME) excuse they have for drug testing in the first place is JOB SAFETY.
IF THERE ARE NO DAMN JOBS, THERE’S NO NEED FOR TESTING, RIGHT???
Not that they have ANY right to do so… REGARDLESS.
Amen
Hell I know guys that go to bars or home after work and drink themselves to sleep every night
Come into work still legally drunk
And hung over
Yet … nothin done about that
I’ve worked next to a drunk and that sucks
I’ve also worked with a Cannibis smoker and that was awesome
Very creative mind and an upbeat person
Productive
Must have had some good sht
I’m one of those people everyone hates
I don’t smoke and rarely drink
Most likely never drunk
Bottom line: I wouldn’t trust a drunk to have my back in any kind of a firefight. They’re useless when they’re drinking, and they’ll be useless till they fully recover (IF they survive that period, that is) once the booze runs out.
Wouldn’t trust a tweaker or a junkie, either, but zero problem with pot smokers.
Mother Nature’s tranquilizer can have a great calming effect in a stressful situation.