The NC General Assembly this morning voted to override two bills that had previously been vetoed by Gov. Pat McCrory. One of the bills Civitas has been reporting on was a bill that would drug test those who receive certain welfare benefits (HB 392). But at 9:17am on September 4, 2013 HB 392 became law with a vote of 34-10 in the North Carolina Senate. The Senate’s vote follows yesterday’s House vote to override by a 77-39 margin.
Gov. McCrory had issued several statements on his website that says why the veto should stay for HB 392 and Vetoed the bill several weeks ago.
Debate on both bills was sparse, and no one spoke against the overrides and both bills became law before 9:30am.
One measure requires drug testing and criminal background checks for applicants to certain welfare programs. Those applying for federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits, a cash assistance program, would have to undergo both background checks and drug screenings under the bill. Applicants for food stamps would have to undergo only background checks, including fingerprinting.
“We don’t want hard working North Carolinians to be supporting illegal drug use,” Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon, said.
The other vetoed bill, HB 786, would expand the exemption of seasonal workers of the E-verify program from 90 days to up to 9 months. The House overrode that veto yesterday b 84-32, and this morning the Senate voted 39-5 to override the governor’s veto.
Both bills now become law.
There shouldn’t be a problems with drug testing for the programs they speak of. Those programs usually supply cash. If you can afford drugs and they are in your system, then what do you need with state cash that could go elsewhere. And, the only reason they don’t make it mandatory for the Food Stamp program is because they know there will be a bunch of starving people.