Unemployment Benefits and Drug Testing - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

Unemployment Benefits and Drug Testing

A new bill in the Wyoming Legislature aims to cut unemployment benefits for people who fail drug tests.

It's supposed to be a solution to a problem. "We have employers get to us, employees get to us and they say 'this isn't fair. I'm working, I'm clean, and the guys I work with can't pass a drug test'" explains Representative Michael Madden - (R) Johnson County.

Kim Floyd lobbies for workers unions and opposes the bill. "It's just another way to get around the law and get around the benefits workers earn" he says.

The drug tests would be the responsibility of the Department of Workforce Services. It's still unknown who would be tested. The department is waiting for the federal government to release a list of jobs in which people are regularly tested.

When it comes to unemployment benefits, the department says it's crunched some numbers. "We estimate about 1,500 individuals may lose their jobs because of use of a controlled substance" says Director Joan Evans. Of those, roughly 100 individuals could lose unemployment.

Floyd thinks lawmakers should be no exception. "Let's test the senate. Let's test the house... if it's really that big of a problem" he says.

Madden says he would accept the idea as a "friendly amendment."

House Bill 89 still has yet to hit the House and Senate floors.