Dear South Carolina Senate:
That's 'jobs,' not 'drug tests'
On Tuesday, a South Carolina state Senate panel took a bill that would force jobless people to work 16 hours a week in order to collect their benefits after the first six months, looked at it, and said "this won't do." Not because it's an added stigma and burden on people struggling to get by in a state with high unemployment and low unemployment benefits, but because six months was deemed too long a wait to enter the involuntary unpaid workforce, so they cut it to five months.
The panel also approved a bill requiring drug testing for unemployment applicants, even though a Florida law requiring welfare recipients to be drug tested proved to be a massive waste of money, because, despite South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's belief otherwise, just a tiny percentage of people fail such tests, whether applying for welfare or applying for jobs.
But that's not all. These fine South Carolina lawmakers weren't just advancing programs that won't do anything to create jobs and will make it harder for unemployed people to survive and devote energy to seeking jobs. They were knowingly and belligerently advancing bills that, even if passed, will be rapidly overturned:
Though the panel heard testimony that both proposals would likely conflict with federal law, its chairman, Sen. Kevin Bryant, said afterward that doesn't matter.
"It's time to start pushing back," said Bryant, R-Anderson. "I can't base how I vote on a bill on what some activist, liberal judge is going to do."
No, it would be foolish to base how you spend your time as a legislator on what's actually legal or effective.