State Sen. Steven Baddour wants all applicants for welfare programs in Massachusetts to pass a drug test before receiving benefits.
"We're trying to stop people from gaming the system," Baddour, D-Methuen, told a reporter last week. "There are people who legitimately need a hand up in these tough economic times. We're trying to protect these individuals and trying to get at the people who abuse the system."
Baddour wants welfare applicants to pay $40 to take a drug test. If they pass and meet the financial requirements, they'll be reimbursed for the test and receive their benefits. If they fail, they'll be barred from receiving benefits for a year, or six months if they enter a drug rehabilitation program.
"It's illegal to use drugs," Baddour said. "We're not trying to punish people. We're trying to make the system accountable and we're trying to make people responsible for their actions."
The proposal merits serious consideration, as does another filed by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, that would crack down on the use of EBT cards by welfare recipients to purchase tobacco, alcohol and Massachusetts Lottery products.
"When I meet with constituents and talk about this bill, I get a room full of heads nodding in agreement," Baddour wrote in testimony on his legislation. "(This bill) provides common-sense measures to ensure that those who need help get it and those who are taking from the system wrongfully are weeded out or punished."
If Baddour and Tarr, frequent allies, can get "a room full of heads nodding in agreement" for their proposals at the Statehouse, they will really have accomplished something.
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