BRING ON THE DRUG TESTS--FOR EVERYONE WHO'S ON THE TAXPAYER DIME

First we have the immigration law that may well make it illegal for a
church pastor to minister to an illegal immigrant, but allows people
who can afford maids and yard hands to skip asking about their
employees' immigration status.

Now, Alabama Republicans in the Legislature are considering a law
that will require people who apply for welfare to take drug tests. Of
course, this law is not the brainchild of any Alabama lawmaker. Our
lawmakers must not have enough good ideas of their own, so they steal
bad law from other states. This one comes to us via Florida.

We published an editorial on this subject last week that suggested if
we're not wanting taxpayers to fund somebody's drug habits, maybe we
should test all state-paid workers, with lawmakers themselves at the
top of the list. Go here to read that editorial.

What is it about Republicans like Scott Beason, the Republican from
Gardendale, who specifically target certain groups for action? Beason
was a co-sponsor of the immigration bill, and he actually sponsored a
drug-test-welfare-applicants bill similar to Florida's in this year's
regular session, but too late for lawmakers to act.

But even worse than people hating other people through targeted
legislation are the attacks on personal freedoms and the erosion of
civil rights that we passively allow lawmakers to get away with.

Poor people who need state assistance likely do fewer drugs than
wealthy people who can afford them. As our editorial states, "if the
reason for this law really is to protect taxpayers from helping fund
somebody's drug habit, there's only one way to do that: Test
everybody who receives state taxpayer dollars. Lawmakers should set
the example and be first in line."

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Follow Joey Kennedy on Twitter: @joeykennedy