Okla. Gov. Fallin Signs Welfare Drug Testing Bill

Certain Oklahoma welfare recipients could

be subjected to drug tests under a bill signed into law by Governor

Mary Fallin.

The bill was one of a dozen measures Fallin signed late

Wednesday.

The measure authorizes the Department of Human Services to

conduct drug tests on welfare applicants if they have a reasonable

suspicion the person is using drugs. The proposed law applies to

the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF, which

serves more than 20,000 Oklahomans each month.

An earlier version of the bill would have required all TANF

recipients to take and pay for a drug test before receiving

benefits, but the measure was scaled back in the Senate.

Fallin also vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have exempted the

Oklahoma Military Department from certain purchasing requirements.