Arizona to consider drug testing for jobless benefits, should the Navajo Nation follow?
Weekly Edition | March 22nd | By: NP-staff
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Phoenix, Ariz - An Arizona lawmaker sponsored a bill that would require all unemployed getting jobless benefits to get drug tested. Republican Sen. Steve Smith, said he is just looking out for the tax payers, ABC15 reported.
“I look at unemployment benefits as a job,” Smith said. “We just want to make sure we’re not paying for deadbeats.”
One of the biggest Native American tribe sits in Northern Arizona, The Navajo Nation has a high unemployment rate and lacks small businesses to support a flourishing economy. We’ve requested the exact numbers from Navajo officials, but we have not gotten a solid response as to what exactly those unemployment numbers are.
According to the Navajo Business site, the reservation has a 42 percent unemployment rate and 43 percent live below the poverty rate in the U.S. Should the Navajo Nation side with Arizona State Senator Smith and consider a similar policy that would require a drug test for jobless benefits.
It’s highly unlikely, the Navajo council would not support such a measure, but Arizona lawmakers will debate the issue.
