Trump may allow drug testing for food stamps

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The Trump administration plans to allow states to require drug testing for food stamps recipients, the Associated Press reported Wednesday afternoon. The report cites internal emails that show United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials have been preparing for an announcement since February.

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Current federal rules prohibit states from imposing additional requirements on SNAP-eligible families, and previous attempts to do so have not fared well in the courts. Florida passed a SNAP drug-testing law in 2011, but a federal appeals court struck it down in 2014, arguing that the requirement was a form of unreasonable search. In 2014, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law a bill that required drug testing of SNAP applicants under "reasonable suspicion of substance abuse." That law, too, was scuttled by a federal appeals court. Direct overtures to the executive branch have also gone unheeded. In 2016, 12 governors asked the federal government for permission to drug test their state's SNAP recipients, but no explicit permission had been granted.

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The drug testing proposal is another step in the Trump administration's push to allow states more flexibility in how they implement federal programs that serve the poor, unemployed or uninsured," according to AP. "It also wants to allow states to tighten work requirements for food stamp recipients and has found support among GOP governors who argue greater state control saves money and reduces dependency."

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