HB 575

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 Deterrence
5	Pilot Program within the Agency for Workforce Innovation;
6	providing legislative intent; providing the scope of
7	eligibility for benefits; defining terms; providing for
8	the screening of individuals to determine which
9	individuals must be tested; providing for notice;
10	providing terms of disqualification for benefits;
11	requiring the agency to supply information concerning drug
12	treatment programs; providing for authentication and the
13	admissibility of drug tests in unemployment compensation
14	hearings; creating a rebuttable presumption of drug use
15	under certain circumstances; providing testing procedures;
16	providing for the preservation of test samples; providing
17	for the retesting of test samples; providing for an
18	appeals process; authorizing the agency to adopt rules;
19	directing the agency to submit a report to the Governor
20	and Legislature; directing the Office of Program Policy
21	Analysis and Government Accountability to submit a report
22	to the Governor and Legislature; providing for expiration
23	of the program; providing an effective date.
24
25	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27	Section 1.  Section 443.093, Florida Statutes, is created
28	to read:
29	443.093  Drug Deterrence Pilot Program.-
30	(1)  PURPOSE.-It is the intent of the Legislature to create
31	within the Agency for Workforce Innovation the Drug Deterrence
32	Pilot Program. The Legislature finds that illegal drug use is a
33	threat to public safety. The purpose of this pilot program is to
34	require the drug testing of certain individuals as a condition
35	for unemployment benefits in order to prevent the enabling of
36	drug use with government funds, thereby protecting the public.
37	(2)  SCOPE.-In addition to any benefit eligibility or
38	disqualification conditions prescribed in this chapter, any
39	individual making a claim for benefits or receiving benefits and
40	residing within Regional Workforce Board 18 or Regional
41	Workforce Board 24 is subject to this section. As a condition to
42	making a claim for benefits or accepting receipt of benefits, an
43	individual must agree to comply with the terms of this section,
44	including, but not limited to, agreeing to be subject to drug
45	testing.
46	(3)  DEFINITIONS.-As used in this section, the term:
47	(a)  "Agency" means the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
48	(b)  "Drug" means an amphetamine, a cannabinoid, cocaine,
49	phencyclidine (PCP), a hallucinogen, methaqualone, an opiate, a
50	barbiturate, a benzodiazepine, a synthetic narcotic, a designer
51	drug, or a metabolite of any of the substances listed in this
52	paragraph.
53	(c)  "Drug test" or "test" means any chemical, biological,
54	or physical instrumental analysis for the purpose of determining
55	the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolites.
56	(4)  CREATION.-
57	(a)  The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall implement an
58	unemployment compensation drug testing pilot program with
59	Regional Workforce Board 18 and Regional Workforce Board 24 no
60	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
64	whether 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
68	and 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
154	tested;
155	5.  Gives the number of weeks and the amount of benefits
156	for which individuals would have been eligible if they had not
157	tested positive or refused to take the test;
158	6.  Estimates the costs of the drug testing program,
159	including the average cost of individual tests and the cost of
160	administering the program;
161	7.  Estimates savings, if any, under the program to the
162	Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund; and
163	8.  Includes a recommendation on whether the Legislature
164	should maintain the program.
165	(b)  Before the 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature,
166	the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
167	Accountability shall review and evaluate the Drug Deterrence
168	Pilot Program and submit a report to the Governor, the President
169	of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
170	The report must evaluate whether the program is cost-effective
171	and deters drug users from receiving benefits and make a
172	recommendation to the Legislature to abolish, continue,
173	reorganize, or expand the program.
174	(10)  EXPIRATION.-This section expires June 30, 2012.
175	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.