Walker budget to bar drug users from food stamps, Medicaid [View all]

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Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the first time Thursday, Walker committed to drug testing recipients of BadgerCare Plus health coverage and also pledged free treatment and job training for those testing positive for drugs.

But the governor offered no details on how the state would cover the costs of that or the testing or whether he expected it to cost the state money overall, as a similar program did in Florida, or save tax dollars. The budget, he said in a statement, would also drop to four years from five the limit on how long a recipient could be in the Wisconsin Works, or W-2, program, the replacement in this state to traditional welfare.

"We know employers in Wisconsin have jobs available, but they don't have enough qualified employees to fill those positions," Walker said. "With this budget, we are addressing some of the barriers keeping people from achieving true freedom and prosperity and the independence that comes with having a good job and doing it well."

The governor said the drug-testing proposal would only apply to able-bodied adults, not the elderly or children, and would also include transitional jobs initiatives. Walker wants to test all FoodShare and BadgerCare applicants but limit the drug testing for unemployment benefits to certain applicants.

Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/walker-budget-to-bar-drug-users-from-getting-food-stamps-b99431090z1-289450411.html

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Fuck you, Scott Walker.