Good morning, Gov. Scott: Begging your indulgence, sir, I offer a little advice.
The courts keep telling you drug-testing welfare recipients is a no-go, yet as I understand it, you're going for another appeal. It's time to listen.
Fold your hand, governor, the game is over.
What you don't need now is another legal defeat going into a re-election campaign. Why would you insist on the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deciding if the state can force people getting public assistance to take a drug test? All signs point to another disappointment for Team Scott.
You and the legislative leadership insisted there were taxpayer savings there, and you got the law passed in 2011 against all kinds of advice, but especially against opinion from experts on constitutional law who predicted a quick challenge. But never mind. The law was in force at least for a few months -- long enough to discover the state had to repay 98 percent of welfare recipients for peeing cleanly into cups, while catching only 2 percent using drugs.
We're talking about lower drug use among the tested group than the overall Florida population -- 2 percent vs. 8 percent.
Let's pretend for a minute that U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven didn't first declare an injunction against the law, and a three-member panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit appeals court didn't uphold it. The fact remains, the program actually cost the state $135,000 a year, and you want it to cost even more? Why would you do this?
I mean, even if good legal counsel was telling you that really, the law doesn't violate the Fourth Amendment, why would you pursue another appeal?
No matter how you cut it, it's a bad return on investment for taxpayers, Governor.
Furthermore, we are conservatives. Continuing to argue that drug testing does not violate the constitutional rights of people seeking aid through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program should leave a sour taste in our mouths.
Think about it.
We want to subjecta specific sector of the population to criminal searches without cause. We want to testevery applicant regardless of whether he or she is suspected of drug use.This is not what we're about as limited-government conservatives, sir. Why do we, who strive to keep Big Government out of our lives, want to create laws where none are needed?
No doubt Florida will continue to be granted appeals straight up to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case does have a certain amount of heft, with other states peripherally involved.Georgia, for example, modeled its welfare drug testing law on Florida's and suspended it pending the resolution of the court case. A handful of other states passed similar but less intrusive laws than Florida's.
Governor, you can run this law all the way up the flagpole straight to the Supremes in Washington if you want, but a) another drubbing in court -- any drubbing, any court -- is only going to provide more fodder for your political enemies; 2) it's a fiscal loser for taxpayers, and will be year after year, in good economic times and bad; and 3) it's plain wrong-headed for a leader with the conservative principles you otherwise practice.
You're a Kenny Rogers fan, aren't you, Governor? Then, I'll bet you will "know when to walk away and know when to run."
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
