It's anticipiated that Wisconsin will face a series of lawsuits aimed at blocking the state from drug testing food stamp applicants without reasonable suspicion, but the Walker administration is getting out ahead of the game by filing their own lawsuit against the federal government.
Before it can drug test applicants, the state will require approval from the federal government; approval the government is unlikely to give. With that in mind, the state attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
MADISON — On behalf of the State of Wisconsin, Attorney General Brad D. Schimel today filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking clarification that the State can require certain welfare recipients to undergo drug testing to satisfy the work requirement for food-stamp benefits. The lawsuit was filed against United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
“This lawsuit seeks to provide clarity that the State of Wisconsin has the authority to require drug testing for FoodShare recipients,” said Schimel. “In previous communications with the State of Wisconsin, the federal government has taken the opposite position despite the clear statutory language in federal law.”
How's this for clarity?
I am 100 percent confident the federal government has a better grasp of the statutory language than the Walker administration. It's not as if Wisconsin is the first state to attempt implementing a drug testing program. Furthermore, other states that have attempted to implement similar programs have seen those programs ruled unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment.
The Scott Walker administration has committed state taxpayers to fighting two losing battles: a losing battle with the federal government and a losing battle with the Constitution.