Bill Text: FL S0258 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Unemployment Compensation/Drug Testing [CPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Commerce [S0258 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S0258-Introduced.html

---

 
Florida Senate - 2010                                     SB 258 
 
By Senator Bennett 
21-00257-10                                            2010258__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to the drug testing of potential and 
3         existing beneficiaries of unemployment compensation; 
4         creating s. 443.093, F.S.; creating the Drug 
5         Deterrence Pilot Program within the Agency for 
6         Workforce Innovation; providing legislative intent; 
7         providing the scope of eligibility for benefits; 
8         defining terms; providing for the screening of 
9         individuals to determine which individuals must be 
10         tested; providing for notice; providing terms of 
11         disqualification for benefits; requiring the agency to 
12         supply information concerning drug treatment programs; 
13         providing for authentication and the admissibility of 
14         drug tests in unemployment compensation hearings; 
15         creating a rebuttable presumption of drug use under 
16         certain circumstances; providing testing procedures; 
17         providing for the preservation of test samples; 
18         providing for the retesting of test samples; providing 
19         for an appeals process; authorizing the agency to 
20         adopt rules; directing the agency to submit a report 
21         to the Governor and Legislature; directing the Office 
22         of Program Policy Analysis and Government 
23         Accountability to submit a report to the Governor and 
24         Legislature; providing for expiration of the program; 
25         providing an effective date. 
26 
27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
28 
29         Section 1. Section 443.093, Florida Statutes, is created to 
30  read: 
31         443.093 Drug Deterrence Pilot Program.— 
32         (1) PURPOSE.—It is the intent of the Legislature to create 
33  within the Agency for Workforce Innovation the Drug Deterrence 
34  Pilot Program. The Legislature finds that illegal drug use is a 
35  threat to public safety. The purpose of this pilot program is to 
36  require the drug testing of certain individuals as a condition 
37  for unemployment benefits in order to prevent the enabling of 
38  drug use with government funds, thereby protecting the public. 
39         (2) SCOPE.—In addition to any benefit eligibility or 
40  disqualification conditions prescribed in this chapter, any 
41  individual making a claim for benefits or receiving benefits and 
42  residing within Regional Workforce Board 18 is subject to this 
43  section. As a condition to making a claim for benefits or 
44  accepting receipt of benefits, an individual must agree to 
45  comply with the terms of this section, including, but not 
46  limited to, agreeing to be subject to drug testing. 
47         (3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 
48         (a) “Agency” means the Agency for Workforce Innovation. 
49         (b) “Drug” means an amphetamine, a cannabinoid, cocaine, 
50  phencyclidine (PCP), a hallucinogen, methaqualone, an opiate, a 
51  barbiturate, a benzodiazepine, a synthetic narcotic, a designer 
52  drug, or a metabolite of any of the substances listed in this 
53  paragraph. 
54         (c) “Drug test” or “test” means any chemical, biological, 
55  or physical instrumental analysis for the purpose of determining 
56  the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolites. 
57         (4) CREATION.— 
58         (a) The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall implement an 
59  unemployment compensation drug testing pilot program with 
60  Regional Workforce Board 18 no later than October 1, 2010. 
61         (b) In creating and implementing the program, the agency 
62  shall: 
63         1. Develop a screening mechanism by which to assess whether 
64  a person is likely to be an illicit drug user; 
65         2. Drug test individuals who are assessed to be likely 
66  illicit drug users; 
67         3. Make a determination of eligibility under s. 443.091 and 
68  disqualification under s. 443.101 before an applicant is 
69  selected for drug testing; 
70         4. Provide notice of the potential for drug testing to 
71  individuals claiming and receiving benefits; and 
72         5. Require an individual who is to be tested to sign an 
73  acknowledgement that he or she has received notice of the 
74  agency’s drug testing policy and that he or she has a right to 
75  refuse to take the drug test. 
76         (5) TESTING; USE OF RESULTS.— 
77         (a) An individual is disqualified from receiving or 
78  continuing to receive benefits upon: 
79         1. Refusing to submit to testing under this section; or 
80         2. Upon testing positive for drugs as a result of a test 
81  under this section. 
82         (b) If the individual fails the drug test required under 
83  this section, the individual is not entitled to unemployment 
84  benefits for up to 52 weeks, under rules adopted by the agency, 
85  and until he or she has earned income of at least 17 times his 
86  or her weekly benefit amount. 
87         (c) The agency shall provide any individual who tests 
88  positive with information concerning drug treatment programs 
89  that may be available in the area in which he or she resides; 
90  however, the agency or the state is not responsible for 
91  providing or paying for drug treatment as part of the testing 
92  conducted under this section. 
93         (6) TESTING.— 
94         (a) All specimen collection and testing for drugs under 
95  this section must be performed in accordance with the following 
96  procedures: 
97         1. A sample shall be collected with due regard to the 
98  privacy of the individual providing the sample, and in a manner 
99  reasonably calculated to prevent substitution or contamination 
100  of the sample. 
101         2. Specimen collection must be documented, and the 
102  documentation procedures must include: 
103         a. Labeling of specimen containers so as to reasonably 
104  preclude the likelihood of erroneous identification of test 
105  results. 
106         b. A form for the person being tested to provide any 
107  information he or she considers relevant to the test, including 
108  identification of currently or recently used prescription or 
109  nonprescription medication or other relevant medical 
110  information. The form must provide notice of the most common 
111  medications by brand name or common name, as applicable, as well 
112  as by chemical name, which may alter or affect a drug test. The 
113  providing of information does not preclude the administration of 
114  the drug test, but must be taken into account in interpreting 
115  any positive, confirmed test result. 
116 
117  Specimen collection, storage, and transportation to the testing 
118  site must be performed in a manner that reasonably precludes 
119  contamination or adulteration of specimens. 
120         (b) Every specimen that produces a positive test result 
121  must be preserved for at least 6 months. However, if the tested 
122  person undertakes an administrative or legal challenge to the 
123  test result, the sample shall be preserved until the case or 
124  administrative appeal is settled. 
125         (c) An individual who tests positive for drugs may refute 
126  and rule out a false positive test by having the same sample 
127  retested by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, gas 
128  chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, or an 
129  equally or more specific test. 
130         (d) Test results and chain-of-custody documentation 
131  provided to the agency by an approved drug-testing laboratory is 
132  self-authenticating and admissible in unemployment compensation 
133  hearings, and such evidence creates a rebuttable presumption 
134  that the individual used, or was using, drugs. 
135         (7) APPEAL.—Any person who is deemed ineligible for, or is 
136  disqualified from, receiving unemployment benefits because of a 
137  positive drug test has a right to appeal the agency’s decision 
138  pursuant to s. 443.151(4). 
139         (8) RULES.—The agency shall adopt rules under ss. 
140  120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section. 
141         (9) REPORT.— 
142         (a) The agency shall submit a report to the Governor, the 
143  President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 
144  Representatives by January 1, 2012, which at a minimum: 
145         1. Gives the number of individuals tested, the substances 
146  tested for, and the results of the testing; 
147         2. Gives the number of individuals denied unemployment 
148  compensation benefits for failing a drug test upon claiming 
149  benefits and the number of individuals for whom benefits were 
150  terminated for failing a test while receiving benefits; 
151         3. Describes any obstacles to implementation of the 
152  program; 
153         4. Gives the number of applicants who refused to be tested; 
154         5. Gives the number of weeks and the amount of benefits for 
155  which individuals would have been eligible if they had not 
156  tested positive or refused to take the test; 
157         6. Estimates the costs of the drug testing program, 
158  including the average cost of individual tests and the cost of 
159  administering the program; 
160         7. Estimates savings, if any, under the program to the 
161  Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund; and 
162         8. Includes a recommendation on whether the Legislature 
163  should maintain the program. 
164         (b) Before the 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature, the 
165  Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability 
166  shall review and evaluate the Drug Deterrence Pilot Program and 
167  submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 
168  and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The report must 
169  evaluate whether the program is cost-effective and deters drug 
170  users from receiving benefits and make a recommendation to the 
171  Legislature to abolish, continue, reorganize, or expand the 
172  program. 
173         (10) EXPIRATION.—This section expires June 30, 2012. 
174         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.