Kansas lawmaker wants to drug-test welfare recipients; Missouri lawmaker wants to drug-test legislators

As The Daily Show expertly demonstrated two weeks ago, the growing trend among state lawmakers to require welfare recipients to submit to drug tests raises troubling questions. As correspondent Aasif Mandvi found, if poor mothers and fathers receiving tax-funded benefits have to pee in a cup, why shouldn’t everyone receiving taxpayer money? Like state legislators.

But Mandvi’s challenge to Florida lawmakers to submit to tests hasn’t scared a group of Kansas lawmakers, including Merriam Republican Rep. Brett Hildabrand, from wanting to drug-test Kansas’ poorest residents before getting their hands on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds. The Star reports that after two failed tests, a person would be cut off for a year. Three failures would mean a lifetime ban.

Meanwhile, in Missouri, The Daily Show prank seems to have struck a chord with Rep. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville). The Star writes that Brattin is sponsoring legislation that will require all members of the General Assembly to submit to random drug testing. “Our salaries are paid by taxpayers, so we should assure them we aren’t using that money on drugs,” he told the paper.