Earlier today, at a glass factory in Austin for some reason, Governor Rick Perry threw his support behind Flower Mound State Sen. Jane Nelson’s pre-filed bill that would require drug testing for all those applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Unemployment Insurance benefits.
“Texas taxpayers will not subsidize or tolerate illegal drug abuse. Every dollar that goes to someone who uses it inappropriately is a dollar that can’t go to a Texan who needs it for housing, child care or medicine,” Perry said in a statement. “Being on drugs makes it much harder to begin the journey to independence, which only assures individuals remain stuck in the terrible cycle of drug abuse and poverty.”
I have only one point to make: tan suit? Really? Come on son, it’s almost Thanksgiving. Tuck that thing away. Sure you got plenty of blue and black suits.
(Oh and also, when are the attacks on the poor going to end? That’s another point I’d like to make. I’d bet people would be a lot more reluctant to support this if it also included drug-testing for state pensions.)
Update: Senator Nelson’s press rep emailed me this morning to clarify that the bill “does not impact unemployment insurance benefits or any other state benefits.” She did not mention Perry’s suit in the email.
