II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3540 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to implement 

a drug testing program for applicants for and recipients of assistance 

under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require 

States to implement a drug testing program for applicants for and recipients of assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Free Families 

5 Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DRUG TESTING PROGRAM FOR APPLICANTS FOR 

2 AND RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE UNDER 

3 STATE TANF PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT OF DRUG TESTING

5 PROGRAM.—Section 402(a) of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 602(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(8) CERTIFICATION THAT THE STATE WILL

9 OPERATE AN ILLEGAL DRUG USE TESTING PRO10 GRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A certification by the 

12 chief executive officer of the State that the 

13 State will operate a program to test all appli14 cants for assistance under the State program 

15 funded under this part, and all individuals de16 scribed in subparagraph (B) of section 

17 408(a)(12), for the use of illegal drugs (as de18 fined in subparagraph (G)(i) of such section), 

19 and to deny assistance under such State pro20 gram to individuals who test positive for illegal 

21 drug use or who are convicted of drug-related 

22 crimes, as required by such section. 

23 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY FOR CONTINUED TEST24 ING.—The program described in subparagraph 

25 (A) may include a plan to continue testing indi26 viduals receiving assistance under the State 


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1 program funded under this part for illegal drug 

2 use at random or set intervals after the initial 

3 testing of such individuals, at the discretion of 

4 the State agency administering such State pro5 gram.’’. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENT THAT APPLICANTS AND INDIVID7 UALS RECEIVING ASSISTANCE BE TESTED FOR ILLEGAL

8 DRUG USE.—Section 408(a) of the Social Security Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(12) REQUIREMENT FOR DRUG TESTING; DE12 NIAL OF ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS FOUND TO

13 HAVE USED ILLEGAL DRUGS AND INDIVIDUALS CON14 VICTED OF DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State to which a 

16 grant is made under section 403 shall not use 

17 any part of the grant to provide assistance to 

18 any individual who has not been tested for ille19 gal drug use under the program required under 

20 section 402(a)(8). 

21 ‘‘(B) TRANSITION RULE.—In the case of 

22 an individual who is receiving assistance under 

23 the State program funded under this part on 

24 the effective date of the Drug Free Families 

25 Act of 2008, or whose application for assistance 


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1 is approved before such date if such assistance 

2 has not begun as of such date, a State may not 

3 provide assistance to such individual unless 

4 such individual is tested for illegal drug use 

5 under the program described in subparagraph 

6 (A) after the 3rd month that begins after such 

7 date. 

8 ‘‘(C) DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE FOR INDI9 VIDUALS WHO TEST POSITIVE FOR ILLEGAL

10 DRUG USE AND INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF

11 DRUG-RELATED CRIMES.—In the case of— 

12 ‘‘(i) an individual who tests positive 

13 for illegal drug use under the program de14 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

15 ‘‘(ii) an individual who is convicted of 

16 a drug-related crime after the effective 

17 date of the Drug Free Families Act of 

18 2008; 

19 the State shall not provide assistance to the in20 dividual under the State program funded under 

21 this part unless such individual enters and suc22 cessfully completes (as determined by the State) 

23 a drug rehabilitation or treatment program and 

24 does not test positive for illegal drug use in the 

25 6-month period beginning on the date the indiVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:05 Sep 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3540.IS S3540

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1 vidual enters such rehabilitation or treatment 

2 program. During such 6-month period the State 

3 may continue to provide assistance to an indi4 vidual who has not been convicted of a felony 

5 drug-related crime, unless the individual tests 

6 positive for illegal drug use during such period. 

7 The State may test the individual for illegal 

8 drug use at random or set intervals, at the dis9 cretion of the State, after such period. 

10 ‘‘(D) WAITING PERIOD AFTER DENIAL OF

11 BENEFITS.—In the case of an individual who is 

12 denied assistance under subparagraph (C) be13 cause of failure to satisfy the requirements of 

14 such subparagraph, a State may not provide as15 sistance to such individual under the State pro16 gram funded under this part at any time during 

17 the 2-year period beginning on the date the in18 dividual is so denied. 

19 ‘‘(E) PERMANENT DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE

20 AFTER THIRD DRUG-RELATED DENIAL.—In the 

21 case of an individual who is denied assistance 

22 under subparagraph (C) 3 times, as a result of 

23 3 separate positive tests for illegal drug use, 3 

24 separate convictions for drug-related crimes 

25 (not including convictions that are imposed conVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:05 Sep 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3540.IS S3540

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1 currently in time), or any combination of 3 such 

2 separate tests or convictions, a State may not 

3 provide assistance to such individual under the 

4 State program funded under this part at any 

5 time after the 3rd such test or conviction. 

6 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION ON WAIVER AUTHOR7 ITY.—The Secretary may not waive the provi8 sions of this paragraph under section 1115. 

9 ‘‘(G) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

10 paragraph— 

11 ‘‘(i) ILLEGAL DRUG.—The term ‘ille12 gal drug’ means a controlled substance as 

13 defined in section 102 of the Controlled 

14 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)). 

15 ‘‘(ii) DRUG REHABILITATION OR

16 TREATMENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘drug 

17 rehabilitation or treatment program’ 

18 means a program determined by the State 

19 to provide treatment that can lead to the 

20 rehabilitation of drug users, but only if 

21 such program complies with all applicable 

22 Federal, State, and local laws and regula23 tions. 

24 ‘‘(iii) DRUG-RELATED CRIME.—The 

25 term ‘drug-related crime’ means any crime 


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1 involving the possession, use, or sale of an 

2 illegal drug.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

6 shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st calendar 

7 quarter that begins on or after the date that is 1 

8 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

10 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan under sec11 tion 402(a) of the Social Security Act which the Sec12 retary of Health and Human Services determines re13 quires State legislation (other than legislation appro14 priating funds) in order for the plan to meet the ad15 ditional requirements imposed by the amendments 

16 made by this Act, the State plan shall not be re17 garded as failing to comply with the requirements of 

18 such section 402(a) solely on the basis of the failure 

19 of the plan to meet such additional requirements be20 fore the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter begin21 ning after the close of the 1st regular session of the 

22 State legislature that begins after the date of enact23 ment of this Act. For purposes of the previous sen24 tence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legis25 lative session, each year of such session shall be 


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1 deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 

2 legislature. 

Æ 


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