SC bill would yank benefits for failed drug tests

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bill that would yank unemployment benefits from someone who fails an employer’s drug test is advancing in the House.

But it’s taking an odd path.

The measure failed 2-2 Thursday in a House Judiciary panel, stunning Republicans who are unaccustomed to being on the losing end of a subcommittee vote. After some discussion over what it meant, Republicans said the measure can go to full committee anyway — just without a favorable report.

The measure represents a back-door way of denying unemployment benefits for failed drug tests. It involves only drug tests that businesses require as a condition of employment. The employer would report a failure to the state’s unemployment agency.

The House approved the bill last year, over the objections of Democrats. But it died in the Senate.