Gov. Deal to delay drug tests for welfare

As a new state law to drug-test welfare recipients went into effect Tuesday, state officials said they would delay enforcing it, while opponents prepared to sue.

With the passage this spring of House Bill 772, the Georgia Legislature and Gov. Nathan Deal approved the nation’s hardest-hitting law using drug tests on recipients of poverty aid.

But a spokesman for Deal, Brian Robinson, on Tuesday told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the state would hold off on implementing HB 772 until a federal appeals court rules for good on a related Florida case, so as not to waste money on a legal fight.

While Robinson said the state is just protecting taxpayers, critics said a close look at the issue shows the explanation no longer makes legal sense, and that something else is at play. Read the full story here.

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