Lawmakers To Be Tested For Drugs?

A local lawmaker is proposing that Georgia General Assembly members face mandatory drug testing.

State Representative Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta), whose district 82 includes portions of Tucker, prefiled HB677 last month. Members who fail the tests would be subject to removal, under the proposed legislation.

Holcomb said his bill is a response to another piece of prefiled legislation, HB668. Co-sponsored by Republican lawmaker Wendall Wilard of Sandy Springs, HB668 would require adults in families applying for state aid to face mandatory drug testing as a precondition.

“It strikes me if the legislature is going to focus its attention on an issue like this, then we should lead by example,” Holcomb said. “If we’re going to require drug testing before Georgians can receive benefits, we shouldn’t expect others to live by standards that we don’t uphold ourselves.”

The state legislature is set to convene for the second half of its 2011-12 legislative session next Monday. Republicans have a solid majority in both the House and Senate.

Still, Holcomb isn’t pessimistic about his bill’s chances.

“This isn’t a partisan bill, and it’s a bill that everyone should support,” he said. “But we have more important issues on which to focus, such as education and transportation, which are the drivers of our state’s future.”