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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: June 18, 2013 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 4 -c <br />SUBJECT: Resolution Opposing Potential Drug Testing for Public Assistance Recipients <br />DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1) Draft Resolution <br />2) Senate Bill 594 Fourth Edition <br />3) Additional Background Information <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Clerk's Office, 245 -2130 <br />1 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a Resolution Opposing Potential Drug Testing for Public Assistance <br />Recipients, which is proposed in Senate Bill 594 before the 2013 North Carolina General <br />Assembly. <br />BACKGROUND: Senate Bill 594, filed on April 2, 2013 in the North Carolina General <br />Assembly, proposes drug testing requirements for recipients of public assistance and requiring <br />families who apply for Work First to be screened at their own expense. The proposed drug <br />testing requirements would create hardships for families with the least resources and in many <br />cases will discourage those families from applying for available assistance even when no <br />substance abuse is present. In some instances, local county social services departments would <br />be required to reimburse drug testing costs although no State funds have been appropriated for <br />this expense, thereby establishing another State unfunded mandate for county governments. <br />Further, such provisions for a small, targeted class of government aid recipients are <br />discriminatory, needlessly intrusive, and may be unconstitutional. <br />The attached draft resolution provides an opportunity for the Board to consider opposing the <br />changes proposed in Senate Bill 594. The bill has been approved in the Senate and is currently <br />before the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee C. <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of the <br />resolution. Should Senate Bill 594 become law, the County may incur an undetermined <br />expense related to reimbursements to members of the public for drug testing costs. <br />RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board consider the resolution <br />and, if approved, authorize the Chair to sign the resolution. <br />