II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3361 

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 

JULY 29 (legislative day, JULY 28), 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 (E)(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 04:53 Jul 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3361.IS S3361

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1 vidual enters such rehabilitation or treatment 

2 program. The State may test the individual for 

3 illegal drug use at random or set intervals, at 

4 the discretion of the State, after such period. 

5 ‘‘(D) PERMANENT DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE

6 AFTER THIRD DRUG-RELATED DENIAL.—In the 

7 case of an individual who is denied assistance 

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

9 3 separate positive tests for illegal drug use, 3 

10 separate convictions for drug-related crimes 

11 (not including convictions that are imposed con12 currently in time), or any combination of 3 such 

13 separate tests or convictions, a State may not 

14 provide assistance to such individual under the 

15 State program funded under this part at any 

16 time after the 3rd such test or conviction. 

17 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

18 paragraph— 

19 ‘‘(i) ILLEGAL DRUG.—The term ‘ille20 gal drug’ means a controlled substance as 

21 defined in section 102 of the Controlled 

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

23 ‘‘(ii) DRUG REHABILITATION OR

24 TREATMENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘drug 

25 rehabilitation or treatment program’ 


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1 means a program determined by the State 

2 to provide treatment that can lead to the 

3 rehabilitation of drug users, but only if 

4 such program complies with all applicable 

5 Federal, State, and local laws and regula6 tions. 

7 ‘‘(iii) DRUG-RELATED CRIME.—The 

8 term ‘drug-related crime’ means any crime 

9 involving the possession, use, or sale of an 

10 illegal drug.’’. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

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

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

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

17 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

18 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan under sec19 tion 402(a) of the Social Security Act which the Sec20 retary of Health and Human Services determines re21 quires State legislation (other than legislation appro22 priating funds) in order for the plan to meet the ad23 ditional requirements imposed by the amendments 

24 made by this Act, the State plan shall not be re25 garded as failing to comply with the requirements of 


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

2 of the plan to meet such additional requirements be3 fore the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter begin4 ning after the close of the 1st regular session of the 

5 State legislature that begins after the date of enact6 ment of this Act. For purposes of the previous sen7 tence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legis8 lative session, each year of such session shall be 

9 deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 

10 legislature. 

Æ 


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