Florida Senate - 2009 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2062
Barcode 638444
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: FAV .
04/01/2009 .
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The Committee on Commerce (Detert) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 443.093 Drug Deterrence Pilot Program.—
6 (1) PURPOSE.—It is the intent of the Legislature to create
7 within the Agency for Workforce Innovation the Drug Deterrence
8 Pilot Program. The Legislature finds that illegal drug use is a
9 threat to public safety. The purpose of this pilot program is to
10 require the drug testing of certain individuals as a condition
11 for unemployment benefits to prevent the enabling of drug use
12 with government funds, thereby protecting the public.
13 (2) SCOPE.—In addition to any benefit eligibility or
14 disqualification conditions prescribed in this chapter, any
15 individual making a claim for benefits or receiving benefits and
16 residing within Regional Workforce Board 18 is subject to this
17 section. As a condition to making a claim for benefits or
18 accepting receipt of benefits, an individual must agree to
19 comply with the terms of this section, including, but not
20 limited to, agreeing to be subject to drug testing.
21 (3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
22 (a) “Agency” means the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
23 (b) “Drug” means an amphetamine, a cannabinoid, cocaine,
24 phencyclidine (PCP), a hallucinogen, methaqualone, an opiate, a
25 barbiturate, a benzodiazepine, a synthetic narcotic, a designer
26 drug, or a metabolite of any of the substances listed in this
27 paragraph.
28 (c) “Drug test” or “test” means any chemical, biological,
29 or physical instrumental analysis for the purpose of determining
30 the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolites.
31 (4) CREATION.—
32 (a) The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall implement an
33 unemployment compensation drug testing pilot program with
34 Regional Workforce Board 18 no later than October 1, 2009.
35 (b) In creating and implementing the program, the agency
36 shall:
37 1. Develop a screening mechanism used to assess whether a
38 person is likely to be an illicit drug user;
39 2. Drug test individuals assessed to be likely illicit drug
40 users;
41 3. Make a determination of eligibility under s. 443.091 and
42 disqualification under s. 443.101 before an applicant is
43 selected for drug testing;
44 4. Provide notice of the potential for drug testing to
45 individuals claiming and receiving benefits; and
46 5. Require an individual to be tested to sign an
47 acknowledgement that he or she has received notice of the
48 agency's drug testing policy and that he or she has a right to
49 refuse to take the drug test.
50 (5) TESTING; USE OF RESULTS.—
51 (a) An individual is disqualified from receiving or
52 continuing to receive benefits upon:
53 1. Refusing to submit to testing under this section; or
54 2. Upon testing positive for drugs as a result of a test
55 under this section.
56 (b) If the individual fails the drug test required under
57 this section, the individual is not entitled to unemployment
58 benefits for up to 52 weeks, under rules adopted by the agency,
59 and until he or she has earned income of at least 17 times his
60 or her weekly benefit amount.
61 (c) The agency shall provide any individual who tests
62 positive with information on drug treatment programs that may be
63 available in the area in which he or she resides; however, the
64 agency or the state is not responsible for providing or paying
65 for drug treatment as part of the testing conducted under this
66 section.
67 (6) TESTING.—
68 (a) All specimen collection and testing for drugs under
69 this section shall be performed in accordance with the following
70 procedures:
71 1. A sample shall be collected with due regard to the
72 privacy of the individual providing the sample, and in a manner
73 reasonably calculated to prevent substitution or contamination
74 of the sample.
75 2. Specimen collection must be documented, and the
76 documentation procedures must include:
77 a. Labeling of specimen containers so as to reasonably
78 preclude the likelihood of erroneous identification of test
79 results.
80 b. A form for the person being tested to provide any
81 information he or she considers relevant to the test, including
82 identification of currently or recently used prescription or
83 nonprescription medication or other relevant medical
84 information. The form must provide notice of the most common
85 medications by brand name or common name, as applicable, as well
86 as by chemical name, which may alter or affect a drug test. The
87 providing of information does not preclude the administration of
88 the drug test, but must be taken into account in interpreting
89 any positive, confirmed test result.
90 c. Specimen collection, storage, and transportation to the
91 testing site must be performed in a manner that reasonably
92 precludes contamination or adulteration of specimens.
93 (b) Every specimen that produces a positive test result
94 must be preserved for at least 6 months. However, if the tested
95 person undertakes an administrative or legal challenge to the
96 test result, the sample shall be preserved until the case or
97 administrative appeal is settled.
98 (c) An individual who tests positive for drugs may refute
99 and rule out a false positive test by having the same sample
100 retested by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, gas
101 chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, or an
102 equally or more specific test.
103 (d) Test results and chain-of-custody documentation
104 provided to the agency by an approved drug-testing laboratory is
105 self-authenticating and admissible in unemployment compensation
106 hearings, and such evidence creates a rebuttable presumption
107 that the individual used, or was using, drugs.
108 (7) APPEAL.—Any person who is deemed ineligible for, or is
109 disqualified from, receiving unemployment benefits because of a
110 positive drug test has a right to appeal the agency's decision
111 pursuant to s. 443.151(4).
112 (8) RULES.—The agency shall adopt rules under ss.
113 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer the provisions of this
114 section.
115 (9) REPORT.—
116 (a) The agency shall submit a report to the Governor, the
117 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
118 Representatives by January 1, 2011, which at a minimum:
119 1. Gives the number of individuals tested, the substances
120 tested for, and the results of the testing;
121 2. Gives the number of individuals denied unemployment
122 compensation benefits for failing a drug test upon claiming
123 benefits and the number of individuals for whom benefits were
124 terminated for failing a test while receiving benefits;
125 3. Describes any obstacles to implementation of the
126 program;
127 4. Gives the number of applicants who refused to be tested;
128 5. Gives the number of weeks and the amount of benefits for
129 which individuals would have been eligible if they had not
130 tested positive or refused to take the test;
131 6. Estimates the costs of the drug testing program,
132 including the average cost of individual tests and the cost of
133 administering the program;
134 7. Estimates savings, if any, under the program to the
135 Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund; and
136 8. Includes a recommendation on whether the Legislature
137 should maintain the program.
138 (b) Before the 2011 Regular Session of the Legislature, the
139 Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
140 shall review and evaluate the Drug Deterrence Pilot Program and
141 submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
142 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The report must
143 evaluate whether the program is cost-effective and deters drug
144 users from receiving benefits and make a recommendation to the
145 Legislature to abolish, continue, reorganize, or expand the
146 program.
147 (10) EXPIRATION.—This section expires on June 30, 2011.
148 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
149
150
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153 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
154 And the title is amended as follows:
155 Delete everything before the enacting clause
156 and insert:
157 An act relating to the drug testing of potential and
158 existing beneficiaries for unemployment compensation; creating
159 s. 443.093, F.S.; creating the Drug Deterrence Pilot Program
160 within the Agency for Workforce Innovation; providing
161 legislative intent; providing the scope of eligibility for
162 benefits; defining terms; providing for the screening of
163 individuals to determine which individuals must be tested;
164 providing for notice; providing terms of disqualification of
165 benefits; requiring the agency to supply information on drug
166 treatment programs; providing for authentication and the
167 admissibility of drug tests in unemployment compensation
168 hearings; creating a rebuttable presumption; providing testing
169 procedures; providing for the preservation of test samples;
170 providing for the retesting of test samples; providing for an
171 appeals process; authorizing the agency to adopt rules;
172 directing the agency to submit a report to the Governor, the
173 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
174 Representatives; directing the Office of Program Policy Analysis
175 and Government Accountability to submit a report to the
176 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
177 House of Representatives; providing for expiration of the
178 program; providing an effective date.
179