A father-son lawmaking duo from Clearwater is breathing new life into Gov. Rick Scott's campaign promise to require drug testing for welfare recipients.

The promise hit a roadblock when federal courts struck down a 2011 law that Scott signed as "warrantless, suspicionless drug testing."

Because we assess promises based on outcomes rather than intentions, we rated Scott's campaign pledge as Promise Broken in 2015 when he gave up his battle in court and chose not to appeal.

But Rep. Chris Latvala in the House and his father Senate appropriations chair Jack Latvala have proposed a rewrite of the 2011 state law that focuses on applicants with a track record of drug use. A House committee approved the bill on March 13.

HB 1117 calls for drug testing certain applicants for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, a federally funded program managed by states.

The tests would be required for applicants who have had a felony drug conviction within the past decade or of whom "the department has a reasonable suspicion is engaging in the illegal use of a controlled substance." Applicants who test positive for drugs would be denied benefits for a year, or if they complete treatment they can re-apply in six months. Applicants would have to pay for each test, which is around $40, but the state would reimburse them if they pass it.

The Florida Department of Children and Families estimated that at least 408 new applicants per month would be tested if the bill were to pass. Based on limited data from the Department of Corrections, DCF estimates that 1.56 percent of current adult TANF recipients have a drug conviction.

At least 15 states including Florida have passed legislation requiring drug testing for public assistance applicants or recipients, according to information compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures through mid March.

Scott wanted the original law as part of his 2010 campaign pledge to save taxpayers money. He was not involved in drafting the proposed bill for the 2017 session.

"Gov. Scott will review any legislation that makes it to his desk," Scott spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said.

Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, which challenged the 2011 law in court and won, raised objections about the new House bill.

"It is yet another attempt to retroactively justify cruel stereotypes about poor people by treating all those applying for temporary assistance as if they are suspected criminals," he said. "It is hard to disguise that the purpose of the proposal is to deny low-income families vital short-term temporary financial assistance necessary to support themselves, and especially their children."

If the bill passes, it would allow for more more narrow drug testing than Scott's original promise, which broadly applied to all applicants. Still, it has several more hurdles to clear before it can reach Scott's desk, including more hearings and a full vote in the House and Senate.

We are watching this promise, but for now it remains Promise Broken.

When Gov. Rick Scott first ran for office in 2010, he vowed that one way he would save taxpayers money would be to require welfare applicants to undergo tests.

"If you go apply for a job today, you are generally going to be drug tested," Scott said then. "The people that are working are paying the taxes for people on welfare. Shouldn't the welfare people be held to the same standard?"

At first, it seemed like Scott would keep that promise. The Florida Legislature embraced the idea, and Scott signed it into law on May 31, 2011. But almost four years later, Scott has given up following repeated defeats in federal courts.

"It does make you think that at least some of the motivation was probably political," said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewitt. "From a legal constitutional standpoint, it was on shaky ground when they passed it, and I think they knew that."

PolitiFact Florida, which tracks Scott's campaign promises, rates promises based on outcomes rather than intentions. Using that metric, Scott's pledge rates Promise Broken.

The drug testing promise was among several conservative promises Scott made during his first race that have ultimately failed, such as bringing Arizona's immigration law to Florida, banning embryonic stem cell research and more stringent work standards for welfare recipients.

Florida's attempt to drug test welfare recipients started when Scott signed HB 353, which required that people who received welfare cash -- called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families -- first pass a drug test. (About 83,000 receive TANF in Florida.)

The ACLU of Florida filed suit challenging the law on behalf of Luis Lebron, a Navy veteran, college student and single father from Orlando. Lebron refused to submit to a test, arguing that requiring him to pay for and submit to one was unreasonable when there was no reason to believe he uses drugs.

In October 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Scriven sided with Lebron and issued a temporary injunction blocking the law. She concluded the law could violate the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on illegal search and seizure.

During the few months the the law was in effect -- July to October 2011 -- about 2.6 percent of applicants tested positive for drugs, the most common being marijuana. That means 108 of 4,046 tested positive.

While the law was on hold, it drew national attention when Comedy Central reporter Aasif Mandvi, who crashed a December 2011 press conference to ask Scott to pee in a cup. Scott did not comply.

As Scott continued to lose in court, he remained steadfast in support of the policy. "Welfare is taxpayer money to help people looking for jobs who have children. Drug use by anyone with children looking for a job is totally destructive," Scott said in a statement in 2013.

The state continued to argue that it warranted an exception to the Fourth Amendment to ensure TANF participants' job readiness, to meet child-welfare goals and to ensure that public funds were properly used.

But the courts rejected that argument and struck down the law. In a federal court appeals ruling in December 2014 Judge Stanley Marcus, who was first appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, concluded that "citizens do not abandon all hope of privacy by applying for government assistance."

As the state reached the deadline to file another challenge, Scott's support reached its limit.

"We chose not to appeal this case," Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz told PolitiFact Florida. "The governor is continuing to protect Florida children any way he can and create an environment where families can get jobs so they are able to pursue their dreams in safe communities."

The legal rulings have been watched closely, both nationally and in other states.

Georgia, for example, had passed a similar law but didn't implement it largely because of the Florida rulings, said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, an expert on welfare at CLASP, an organization that advocates for low-income people

"Overall, the evidence is that these programs do not save money, because you need to screen and test a lot of clients in order to catch a few who are using, and because TANF benefits are so low that there is relatively little savings from cutting people off," she said.

The tab for attorneys both inside and outside government reached at least $307,000, according to numbers from the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Some continue to defend the policy of drug testing. 

"Florida had the best policy," said Robert Rector, an expert at the conservative Heritage foundation who helped craft the 1996 welfare reform law. "Other states have been frightened off by this."

Though Scott failed to deliver on his welfare drug testing promise in the courts, it was popular with voters.

A 2011 poll by Quinnipiac University showed that 71 percent of Floridians — including 90 percent of Republicans — supported the drug testing law, even while Scott's overall approval rating was 37 percent.

"It was always a favorable political issue for him. Welfare recipients are never popular with voters," said Florida Atlantic University political science professor Kevin Wagner.

The U.S. District Court handed Gov. Rick Scott a defeat on Dec. 31 when it struck down a law requiring drug screening of welfare recipients.

Middle District of Florida Judge Mary Scriven granted summary judgment on behalf of Luis Lebron a Navy veteran, college student and single father from Orlando. Lebron refused to submit to a drug test, arguing that requiring him to pay for and submit to one is unreasonable when there is no reason to believe he uses drugs. Lebron was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Scriven wrote that the court "finds there is no set of circumstances under which the warrantless, suspicionless drug testing at issue in this case could be constitutionally applied."

Scott's 2010 campaign promise to enact the drug tests is one of dozens of promises PolitiFact Florida is tracking on our Scott-O-Meter. In another promise related to welfare, we gave Scott a Promise Broken for failing to enact more stringent standards related to work requirements for welfare.

But it is Scott's promise about drug testing that has drawn more attention. In a TV interview while campaigning in October 2010, Scott said: "If you go apply for a job today, you are generally going to be drug tested. The people that are working are paying the taxes for people on welfare. Shouldn't the welfare people be held to the same standard? We shouldn't have long-term welfare or someone who is using drugs or not out trying to get a job."

Scott quickly earned a Promise Kept in 2011 when he signed HB 353, which forces all people who receive welfare cash, called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, to pass a drug test in order to be eligible for the funds. If prospective recipients failed a first test, they would lose benefits for one year. A second positive drug test would have made them ineligible for three years. The bill passed the House 78-38 and passed the Senate 26-11. There are currently about 92,000 TANF clients in Florida.

In response to the ACLU's suit, the court issued a temporary injunction to block the law in 2011. Scriven wrote in that order that the law could violate the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on illegal search and seizure.

"The constitutional rights of a class of citizen are at stake," Scriven wrote.

While the law was in effect from July through October 2011, about 2.6 percent -- or 108 of 4,046 people -- tested positive for drugs, the most common being marijuana.

As the law was on hold, it became the butt of a joke on The Daily Show. Comedy Central reporter Aasif Mandvi crashed a budget press conference in December 2011 to ask Scott to pee in a cup.

"You've benefitted from hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the years, so would you be willing to pee into this cup to prove to Florida taxpayers that you're not on drugs?" asked Mandvi. Scott did not comply.

A ruling in February 2013 from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta affirmed the injunction.

The state continued to argue that it warranted an exception to the Fourth Amendment to ensure TANF participants' job readiness, to meet child-welfare goals and to ensure that public funds are properly used.

But in the Dec. 31 ruling, the court agreed with the 11th Circuit's preliminary conclusion, saying, "There is nothing so special or immediate about the government's interest in ensuring that TANF recipients are drug free so as to warrant suspension of the Fourth Amendment."

Scott announced Friday he will appeal the case -- which would send it back to the 11th Circuit.

"Any illegal drug use in a family is harmful and even abusive to a child," Scott wrote in a news release. "We should have a zero tolerance policy for illegal drug use in families – especially those families who struggle to make ends meet and need welfare assistance to provide for their children. We will continue to fight for Florida children who deserve to live in drug-free homes by appealing this judge's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals."

The court's ruling makes permanent an injunction that halted drug testing for welfare recipients. We'll continue to watch the case, but for now we say Promise Broken.

Another court ruling has cast a dim outlook for Florida's 2011 law requiring drug screenings of welfare recipients.

The law has been on hold ever since an Orlando judge's temporary injunction on Oct. 24, 2011. A ruling on Feb. 26 from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta affirmed the injunction.

About two years ago, Gov. Rick Scott signed the law passed by the Republican-led Legislature requiring applicants seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, called TANF, to first pass a drug test.

On the day of the appellate court ruling, Scott vowed to appeal the "disturbing” decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Welfare is 100 percent about helping children. Welfare is taxpayer money to help people looking for jobs who have children. Drug use by anyone with children looking for a job is totally destructive. This is fundamentally about protecting the well-being of Florida families,” Scott said in a statement.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals did not evaluate the constitutionality of Florida's law, though judges remarked they were skeptical of it surviving the lawsuit. In a 30-page decision, Judge Rosemary Barkett said attorneys for the state did not prove that children of families who receive TANF are more at risk without drug testing in place.

"There is nothing so special or immediate about the government's interest in ensuring that TANF recipients are drug free so as to warrant suspension of the Fourth Amendment,” Barkett wrote. "The only known and shared characteristic of the individuals who would be subjected to Florida's mandatory drug testing program is that they are financially needy families with children.”

A spokesman for the ACLU of Florida, which supported Navy veteran Luis Lebron in his lawsuit against the state, criticized Scott's "hasty” announcement that he would appeal to the Supreme Court. The Middle District Court of Florida, which issued the injunction, is likely to issue a summary judgment on the law sometime soon, and Scott could wait to act upon that, said spokesman Baylor Johnson.

"The ball is sort of in his court in terms of next steps,” he said, "But this was a pretty clear statement about what exactly this policy means for the rights of Floridians.”

Florida's four-month drug-testing run in 2011 yielded 108 negative drug tests, according to Department of Children and Families data. Only 2.6 percent of applicants who took the test failed, though supporters of the law say that does not account for people who walked away from the application process because they were on drugs.

The pass rate was 96.3 percent, leaving the state to pay more than $100,000 to adults who paid for the test and passed. The average time an adult receives TANF is four and a half months, said DCF spokesman Joe Follick.

On a related subject, oral arguments in the ACLU's legal challenge of a 2012 law requiring drug tests of state workers are scheduled for March 22, 2013.

As the state loses another battle, the outlook for the law looks less promising. We move the rating on the Scott-O-Meter to Stalled.

One of Gov. Rick Scott's promises that has received the most media attention -- and even a parody on The Daily Show -- was his vow to drug test welfare recipients.

The Florida Legislature approved a bill to drug-test welfare recipients in 2011. Soon after that, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit to stop it, and a federal judge issued a temporary injunction. Scott announced that the state would appeal the decision, and the case continued to wind it's way through the courts in 2012.

Oral arguments were heard in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Nov. 1, 2012.
A ruling is expected within the next several months.

The ACLU also sued the state over a law approved in 2012 to drug test current state workers, but a judge issued an injunction forbidding the tests. Oral arguments are scheduled for the week of March 18, 2013.

Florida law denies welfare benefits to individuals convicted of drug trafficking. Legislators attempts to expand the ban to those convicted of felony drug possession, but that failed during the 2012 session.

Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz told us in late November that Scott does not plan to propose any law related to drug testing welfare recipients during the upcoming session, which starts in March.

We don't know how the courts will rule on Florida's law, but a similar law in Michigan was ultimately struck down. (PolitiFact wrote about it in a September 2011 fact-check about a chain email that falsely claimed  Florida was the first state to drug test welfare recipients.)

There doesn't appear to be any way for Scott to earn back his Promise Kept for drug testing welfare recipients unless he gets a victory in court. This promise remains In the Works.

With Florida's 2011 law requiring welfare recipients to take drug tests playing out in the courts, lawmakers explored other ways to prevent people who use drugs from getting state money.

While these new efforts aren't directly related to drug-testing welfare recipients, we thought they were worth noting for the record.

Florida law already prevents people convicted of drug trafficking from receiving food stamps and temporary cash assistance from the state.

Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Lecanto, and Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Alachua, wanted to expand the pool of denied applicants to people convicted of felony drug possession -- unless they complete treatment.

Their proposal passed the House by a vote of 80-31 on March 1. It did not fare so well in the Senate, where it was not brought up for a floor vote despite passing a couple committees.

One drug-testing measure did make it to the governor's desk, with another legal challenge likely to follow. Scott signed into law on March 19, 2012, a requirement that state agencies randomly test up to 10 percent of their workers once every three months.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued Scott last year over his executive order to require random drug-testing of state employees, arguing it's an unwarranted search and seizure by government. The group has hinted it may do the same with the new law.

"It's amazing that the Governor and the Legislature would move ahead with a law that so clearly violates the Constitutional protections against invasive government searches without suspicion – especially while a legal challenge on precisely the same issue is pending in the federal court,” said ACLU of Florida executive director Howard Simon in a news release.

We offer this update acknowledging neither spin-off was what Scott promised on the campaign trail. His promise to drug-test welfare recipients is in the courts, so we're keeping our rating at In the Works.

The battle about whether Florida should drug test welfare applicants is no laughing matter, but that didn't stop The Daily Show from trying to make Gov. Rick Scott the butt of a joke about it.

Comedy Central reporter Aasif Mandvi crashed a budget press conference in December 2011 to ask Scott to pee in a cup.

"You've benefitted from hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the years, so would you be willing to pee into this cup to prove to Florida taxpayers that you're not on drugs?'' asked Mandvi Dec. 6, 2011. Scott did not comply. (Read more in the Miami Herald's Naked Politics blog.)

The Daily Show hadn't aired the pee-denial exchange as of the days before the Jan. 10 start of the Legislature's 2012 session. But we decided it was time to test the water on the status of Scott's promise.

To bring you up to speed: The Florida Legislature approved a bill to drug-test welfare recipients in 2011. The American Civil Liberties Union soon filed suit to stop it, and in October, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction. Scott announced in November that the state would appeal the decision, and the issue is still winding its way through the courts. 

So Florida still can't drug test welfare recipients. But legislators and Scott are taking other steps to stop benefits for people who have used drugs. 

Currently, Florida law only denies benefits to individuals convicted of drug trafficking. Some legislators would like to expand that to people who have been convicted of the lesser charge of felony drug possesion. House Bill 813, filed by Republican state Rep. Jimmie Smith, would prohibit individuals convicted of felony drug possession from receiving temporary cash or food assistance unless they complete treatment. (Republican Sen. Steve Oelrich filed an identical bill in the Senate.) The new policy would start for welfare applicants convicted of drug possession felonies on or after July 1, 2012. 

Such a policy would likely survive legal challenges since the 1996 federal welfare law permits it. 

PolitiFact Florida initially gave Gov. Scott a Promise Kept when the Legislature passed the bill to require drug testing, but after the judge issued the injunction, we moved our rating to In the Works. The state has continued its effort to fight in the courts for drug testing and legislators have filed bills to stop convicted drug users from receiving benefits. The promise remains In the Works.

After the Florida Legislature approved a bill to drug-test welfare recipients, PolitiFact Florida gave Gov. Rick Scott a Promise Kept on the Scott-O-Meter on May 6, 2011. But on Oct. 24, 2011, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction to block the law.

We wrote in May that the final bill, HB 353, forced all people who receive welfare cash, called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, to pass a test in order to be eligible for the funds. If prospective recipients fail a first test, they lose benefits for one year. A second positive drug test makes them ineligible for three years. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued the state in September on behalf of of Luis Lebron, a 35-year-old Navy veteran, college student and single father from Orlando. Lebron refused to submit to a drug test arguing that requiring him to pay for and submit to one is unreasonable when there is no reason to believe he uses drugs.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary Scriven wrote in her order that the law could violate the Constitution"s Fourth Amendment ban on illegal search and seizure. 

"The constitutional rights of a class of citizen are at stake,” Scriven wrote. 

The St. Petersburg Times wrote in an article about Scriven's order that nearly 1,600 welfare applicants have refused to take the test since testing began in mid July. Thirty-two applicants failed the test -- mostly testing positive for marijuana -- and more than 7,000 have passed, according to the Department of Children and Families. 

"In this litigation, the State provides scant evidence that rampant drug abuse exists among this class of individuals," Scriven wrote.

Jackie Schutz, deputy press secretary for Gov. Scott, told PolitiFact Florida in an e-mail:

"The Governor believes drug testing welfare recipients is the right thing to do. It is a policy that is supported by many Floridians because it is a common-sense way to ensure that welfare dollars are used to help children and get parents back to work, just as they were intended to do.  The Governor respectfully disagrees with yesterday's decision and he does intend to continue to litigate the case in both the district courts and higher courts if necessary."

The Florida Department of Children and Families ceased drug screening on Oct. 24 after the judge issued her order.

ACLU spokesman Derek Newton said Scott can now decide whether to seek a hearing before Scriven -- which could take months to occur -- or file an appeal in about 30 days. Since the legal case remains open, Scott's promise isn't broken yet but the temporary halt causes us to move this promise to In the Works.

The Florida Legislature delivered Gov. Rick Scott a victory in the closing days of the 2011 legislative session when it passed a measure requiring all Floridians who receive cash welfare assistance to first pass a drug test.

Scott had run for office promising a drug-testing requirement, and worked to broaden an original drug-testing bill that would have applied only to recent drug felons.

The final bill, HB 353, forces all people who receive welfare cash, called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, to pass a test in order to be eligible for the funds. If prospective recipients fail a first test, they would lose benefits for one year. A second positive drug test makes them ineligible for three years. The new testing requirement would affect about 58,000 people.

The bill passed the House 78-38 on April 26 and passed the Senate 26-11on May 5.

"This bill is all about trying to break the cycle of drug dependency and using taxpayer dollars to buy illegal drugs," said Senate sponsor Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville. Opponents say the measure singles out one group of people who receive state funding and could violate a person's constitutional rights.

Under the bill -- which Scott is expected to sign -- welfare applicants would have to pay for the test. If they pass, the state would reimburse them for the cost of the test, which can range from $10 to $25. The new law would take affect July 1, 2011.

Scott promised that welfare recipients would be drug tested. The Legislature has given him the ability.

We rate this Promise Kept.

The Legislature might be pushing back on Florida Gov. Rick Scott's plan to cut the corporate income tax rate, but it seems to be embracing his call to drug-test welfare cash recipients.

Bills moving through the House and Senate that originally required only recent drug felons to take drug tests to receive welfare cash assistance now have been amended to expand the testing requirement to all welfare cash recipients.

Scott said, as part of his seven-step plan to create 700,000 private-sector jobs, that he could save taxpayers $77 million by adding a testing requirement and more stringent work provisions for cash welfare recipients. He also has proposed random drug tests for current state employees.

SB 556 and HB 353 have been altered so that all applicants hoping to receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families payments must first pass a drug screening test. Under the proposals, the applicants would be required to pay for the test.

Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, offered the more stringent proposal on Scott's behalf. The new testing requirement would affect about 58,000 people.

Applicants who fail an exam will be prevented from receiving cash assistance for one year. If they fail a subsequent test, they will be unable to receive welfare payments for three years.

The proposal has survived three House committees and one committee in the Senate.

We'll watch how these bills proceed. But for now, we keep this promise rated In the Works.

One of the ways Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he would better guard taxpayer dollars is by requiring drug testing for people receiving benefits through state-administered welfare programs.

Scott said, as part of his seven-step plan to create 700,000 private-sector jobs, that he could save taxpayers $77 million by adding a testing requirement and more stringent work provisions.

"If you go apply for a job today, you are generally going to be drug tested," Scott told Central Florida News 13 in a pre-election interview from October 2010. "The people that are working are paying the taxes for people on welfare. Shouldn't the welfare people be held to the same standard? We shouldn't have long-term welfare or someone who is using drugs or not out trying to get a job."

Scott didn't drop the issue after defeating Democratic CFO Alex Sink in November.

"It's practical, and it's fair. We shouldn't be subsidizing people who are doing drugs," Scott told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Welfare is a broad term that could have different meanings based on a person's interpretation. For instance Medicaid, which provides subsidized health care for low-income families, could be considered a form of welfare. So could food stamps. Then there's what people traditionally think of welfare -- which is direct cash assistance. That program is called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). In Florida, it's also called temporary cash assistance.

The idea of trying to make welfare recipients take a drug test is hardly new.
 
Supporters argue that drug tests are already commonplace for private-sector job employment, and that a testing requirement would prohibit welfare recipients from using taxpayer dollars to fuel their habit. Opponents say that widespread drug testing is too costly, and that welfare recipients are no more likely to use drugs than anyone else. They also say drug testing is unconstitutional because it amounts to an unreasonable search and seizure. A Michigan law requiring random drug testing was ruled unconstitutional in 2003.

Yet different versions of a testing requirement are now being considered by lawmakers in Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraksa.

And, as Scott wants, in Florida.

Bills have been filed in both the Florida House and Senate that would require some recipients of state and federal direct financial assistance to agree to drug tests by July 1, 2012. Under the provisions of HB 353 and SB 556, applicants for temporary cash assistance who have a felony drug conviction in the previous three years would be required to submit to a drug test as part of the application process. If they pass the test and begin receiving aid, recipients would be subject to additional testing for up to three years.

If a person fails the initial test, they would not be eligible to receive funds for three years. If they fail a test while receiving aid, they would be removed from the program.

The cost for the test -- which the bill does not estimate -- would be paid for by the person being tested.
 
It's not clear how many of the nearly 100,000 people in Florida who receive temporary cash assistance would be affected. The legislation would not impact people receiving food stamps or on Medicaid.

The drug testing legislation, which is waiting for committee hearings, asks the Department of Children and Families to provide a report to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2013, detailing how many people have been tested, how many refused the test, and as a result, how many people were either removed from the program or ruled ineligible.

Bill sponsor Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville, said he has not talked to Scott about the bill and was unaware drug testing was a Scott campaign promise. Oelrich, a former sheriff for Alachua County, said he also hasn't heard from Senate leadership if they plan to try to push the bill through the Legislature. The House companion bill has been filed by freshman Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness.

Oelrich said he wanted to start small, by requiring only convicted drug felons to participate, and wrote the law so that state costs would be minimal.

"I don't think it's too much to ask that people that receive welfare payments, that they agree not to violate the law by taking illegal substances," Oelrich said.

Florida, interestingly enough, has tried to initiate drug testing before. The Legislature in 1998 approved a drug-testing pilot project for people receiving temporary cash assistance. But the results were underwhelming. Of the 8,797 applicants screened for drugs, only 335 showed evidence of having a controlled substance in their system and failed the test, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The pilot project cost the state $2.7 million (or about $90 a test).

During the campaign, Scott said he wanted to have drug testing for welfare recipients, not just those who had previous drug convictions. So we'll be watching to see whether the current proposed legislation is expanded. But for now, we rate this promise In the Works.