This is a letter sent to House members from the Making Work Pay Coalition of which PA NOW is a member. The Coalition is spearheaded by Women’s Way:

June 22, 2015

Dear Representative:

RE: Opposition to Amendment 02247 for H.B. 1164

The Making Work Pay PA Coalition is a statewide group of advocacy and direct service organizations that have come together to develop recommendations for measures that government can implement to better ensure that low-income families are always better off when parents go to work, work more hours, or earn promotions or raises.

Currently, there is an amendment filed to H.B. 1164, numbered A02247, which would mandate drug testing for recipients of public benefits. The coalition opposes this amendment filed by Representative Krieger for multiple reasons. First, drug testing large amounts of people without cause is both expensive and ineffective. A similar law in Florida was recently struck down for violation of the Fourth Amendment, unreasonable search and seizures.

Additionally, women who have been beaten, raped or trafficked can be re-traumatized by having to perform a drug test in front of an open door with a stranger observing. Drug testing these applicants may also deter victims of violence, who may be coerced into using drugs by their abusive partners, from applying for benefits they need to leave an abusive relationship or recover from an assault.

Finally, research done by the National Institutes of Health found that the rates of drug use among benefits recipients are similar to the general population. Testing lower-income citizens is not an effective way to identify people with addictions. This amendment will only further misconceptions and unnecessarily stigmatize people in need of safety net benefits, over 90% of who are the elderly, the disabled, and working families.

For these reasons, the coalition opposes amendment A02247, and we ask that members take these issues into consideration and oppose the amendment, as well.

The coalition also continues to have concerns about the child care provisions in H.B. 1164, as none of the amendments that have been proposed address problems with the bill that we have raised in our position paper (see attached).

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at: dmarques@womensway.org or (215) 985-3322.