Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is asking President-elect Donald Trump to give his state the authority to drug test certain food stamp recipients.
Walker, a Republican who ran for president against Trump, made other requests to the president-elect, which would allow more state authority over federal policies.
“Too often, states have become mere administrative provinces of an all-powerful federal government in Washington,” Walker said in a statement announcing his letter to Trump. “Now is the time to reverse that trend. These requests are the first of many my administration will make as Wisconsin leads the effort to restore balance between state and federal government.”
Walker has long supported drug testing food stamp recipients, a policy he and Republican lawmakers approved in 2015 that has since been blocked by a federal court. Federal law does not allow states to impose drug tests on recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, better known as food stamps.
“We have been forced to delay our implementation and are optimistic your administration will give states like Wisconsin the flexibility to provide the accountability the taxpayers demand,” Walker said in his letter.
He also asked the incoming president to remove federal rules blocking how many refugees and from which countries resettle in his state.
Following the November 2015 terrorist attack in France, Walker said he would oppose the settling of Syrian refugees in Wisconsin.
Also in the letter, Walker asks Trump to allow him to put new requirements on childless adults in Wisconsin’s Medicaid program making less than the federal poverty level for a single person. Wisconsin then would be able to require higher premiums for the adults who partake in risky health behavior, the letter says.
Read a copy of the letter here.
