Welfare recipients have long been subjected to heavy scrutiny and unfair treatment from conservative lawmakers and wealthy executives, but one Black congresswoman wants to turn the tables.
Representative Gwen Moore recently introduced an “accountability bill” that would see top paid businessman privy to frequent tax breaks be required to complete drug tests at random, similar to the provision that mandates the same requirements for lower income welfare recipients. Under the proposed bill, known as the “Top 1% Accountability Act,” any person claiming itemized tax deductions of over $150,000 would be required by law to submit a clean drug test with in 3 months of filing. Those who fail to meet the requirement within the allotted timeframe would become ineligible to receive major mortgage and insurance tax deductions.
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“I would love to see some hedge fund manager on Wall Street who might be sniffing a little cocaine here and there to stay awake realize that he can’t get his $150,000 worth of deductions unless he submits to a drug test,” she said while announcing the introduction of the bill.
Moore says the goal of the bill would be to “level the playing field” for drug testing individuals enrolled in social welfare and assistance programs, according to language found in the proposal. “I am a former welfare recipient,” she says. “I’ve used food stamps, I’ve received Aid for Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid, Head Start for my kids, Title XX daycare [subsidies]. I’m truly grateful for the social safety net.”
The passing of Moore’s bill would undeniably bring the conversation of the blaring socioeconomic imbalance plaguing the U.S. to the forefront in a way that certainly hasn’t been done before.
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