Poll finds strong support for drug testing welfare recipients

More than 75 percent of Virginians think welfare recipients should be required to pass a drug test to receive benefits, according to a new poll released this morning.

Overall, voters support testing for public assistance by 76–21 percent with strong support across race, gender, party, income, religious and age groups.

A measure to require the testing was carried over to 2013 by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday to give lawmakers more time to study the potential costs. A fiscal impact analysis attached to the bill introduced in the House of Delegates estimated the cost of drug screening some recipients at $1.3 million in the first year and $1 million annually after that.

According to the Quinnipiac University poll released this morning, Virginia voters also back repealing a requirement for girls to receive an HPV vaccine before they enter sixth grade and support allowing public schools to open before Labor Day.

An effort to dump the requirement that public school divisions obtain a waiver from the Virginia Board of Education to begin school prior to the Labor Day holiday has passed the House of Delegates and has the support of Gov. Bob McDonnell. The state's tourism industry objects to the measure.

On changes to the way public school teachers are given contracts, voters said 49–41 percent that "it’s a good idea to make it easier to fire public school teachers," according to the poll.

McDonnell is behind legislation that would essentially phase out the continuing contract process in place of three-year term contracts that do not automatically renew. The state's teachers association opposes the measure in part because teachers operating under the new term contracts would not have a grievance procedure, they say. Sixty four percent of Republicans polled backed the idea while 61 percent of Democrats polled opposed it.

Voters support allowing hunting on private land in Virginia on Sundays 48-40 percent, according to the poll.  

On drug tests for public assistance, a Senate measure similar to the House effort is scheduled to be heard today by the Senate Finance Committee. 

House Bill 73, sponsored by Del. Richard P. Bell, R-Staunton, would require local social services departments to screen people receiving Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare (VIEW) benefits to determine if there’s reason to believe the person is using illegal substances.

If so, a formal evaluation would be done, which could include a drug test. It’s unclear what the “screening” would entail.

Anyone who tests positive or refuses to participate “without good cause” would not be able to receive payments unless the person enters into a drug treatment program. The person would have an opportunity to reapply.

Opponents of the measure have said it singles out the poor and raises constitutional questions. They've argued that it would be inconsistent, pointing out that taxpayer money is distributed in other ways without a similar bar for recipients.

The state legislature gets an approval rating of 47 percent in this latest poll, compared to 46 percent who approved of the job it was doing in December 2011. McDonnell's job approval rating sits at 58 percent, up one point from the last Quinnipiac survey, in December.

Other statewide elected officials also have positive job approval ratings, with 64 percent for U.S Sen. Mark Warner; 52 percent for U.S. Sen. Jim Webb; 38 percent for Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; 46 percent for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)