Welfare drug-testing bill approved by House committee
by Bill Barrow - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Baton Rouge -- Losing re-election last fall was not enough to keep Metairie Republican John LaBruzzo from again trying to win support for his lingering proposal for mandatory drug testing of certain cash welfare recipients. House Bill 380 this year is sponsored by freshman Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany, but it was LaBruzzo who made the more spirited defense of the proposal before it cleared the House Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday. As it moves to the House floor, the measure would require actual chemical testing of at least 20 percent of adult applicants for the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program. It is similar to bills that LaBruzzo for several years managed to get through the committee but never to the governor's desk. Legislative analysts put a $45,000 annual price tag on the bill.