SB 22 - Applicant for State Employ- ment - submit to drug test
Georgia Senate - 1995/1996 Sessions
SB 22 - Applicant for State Employ- ment - submit to drug test
Page Numbers - 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5
1. Isakson 21st 2. Edge 28th 3. Balfour 9th
Senate Comm: SLGO-G / House Comm: Gov Aff /
Senate Vote: Yeas 54 Nays 0
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Senate Action House
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1/10/95 Read 1st time 2/3/95
1/31/95 Favorably Reported 3/9/95
Sub Committee Amend/Sub Sub
2/1/95 Read 2nd Time 2/6/95
2/2/95 Read 3rd Time 3/13/95
2/2/95 Passed/Adopted 3/13/95
CS Comm/Floor Amend/Sub CS
3/14/95 Amend/Sub Agreed To
3/22/95 Sent To Governor
4/18/95 Signed by Governor
340 Act/Veto Number
7/1/95 Effective Date
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Code Sections amended: 45-20-110, 45-20-111
SB 22 SB22/AP
SENATE BILL 22
By: Senators Isakson of the 21st, Edge of the 28th,
Balfour of the 9th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1- 1 To amend Chapter 20 of Title 45 of the Official Code of
1- 2 Georgia Annotated, relating to state personnel
1- 3 administration, so as to provide that an applicant for state
1- 4 employment who is offered employment shall submit to an
1- 5 established test for illegal drugs provided the position to
1- 6 be encumbered has been designated by the head of the agency,
1- 7 department, commission, bureau, board, college, university,
1- 8 institution, or authority as requiring a drug test; to
1- 9 provide that an applicant who is offered employment and who
1-10 refuses to submit to a test or who tests positive for
1-11 illegal drugs shall be disqualified from state employment;
1-12 to define terms; to provide for confidential status of test
1-13 results; to provide for related matters; to provide for an
1-14 effective date and for applicability; to repeal conflicting
1-15 laws; and for other purposes.
1-16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
1-17 Chapter 20 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia
1-18 Annotated, relating to state personnel administration, is
1-19 amended by repealing in its entirety Article 6, relating to
1-20 drug testing of applicants for state and school system
1-21 employment.
SECTION 2.
1-22 The General Assembly finds that requiring an applicant
1-23 offered state employment to pass a drug test is a necessary
1-24 requirement for initial employment. Private sector
1-25 employers in increasing numbers require a drug test, leaving
1-26 the state as an employer of least resistance for those who
1-27 use illegal drugs. Studies have shown a direct correlation
1-28 between preemployment drug tests and job performance.
1-29 Applicants with positive test results have been linked to
1-30 poor work quality, increased absenteeism, higher incidence
1-31 of on-the-job injuries, and higher rates of disciplinary
1-32 action, including dismissal from employment. Less than
S. B. 22
-1- (Index)
SB22/AP
2- 1 satisfactory performance by potential state employees will
2- 2 have a dramatic impact on the state's budget, and the
2- 3 delivery of services to Georgia citizens. Broad categories
2- 4 of state employees regularly perform such functions as: law
2- 5 enforcement duties which include carrying weapons and
2- 6 utilizing arrest powers; providing health care and treatment
2- 7 services to Georgians without direct access to such
2- 8 services, and those with mental health or mental retardation
2- 9 impairments; administering medications; teaching hearing and
2-10 vision impaired students and adult and juvenile offenders in
2-11 state custody; driving cars, trucks, vans, buses, and other
2-12 types of vehicles on state roads and highways to transport
2-13 patients, passengers, and equipment; using heavy machinery
2-14 and equipment; providing social work and counseling services
2-15 often directly related to substance abuse difficulties;
2-16 providing foster care, adoption, and protective services,
2-17 often involving at-risk children and the elderly; and
2-18 countless other occupations with direct public contact.
2-19 Such duties may also involve drug education, interdiction,
2-20 and counseling services and be performed in the field with
2-21 limited immediate supervision. The inefficient use of state
2-22 funds deprives Georgians of services which are often not
2-23 provided by other private employers or public sector
2-24 entities and organizations. The General Assembly finds that
2-25 the state should, therefore, make every reasonable effort to
2-26 promote a drug-free workplace in all offices and worksites
2-27 of state government and, correspondingly, to work diligently
2-28 to attract a quality work force which provides essential
2-29 services without unnecessary expenses associated with less
2-30 than satisfactory performance linked to illegal drug use.
2-31 The view is consistent with Georgia's "Drug-free Workplace
2-32 Act," adopted by the General Assembly in 1990, which
2-33 declares that Georgia's work force must be absolutely free
2-34 of any person who would knowingly manufacture, distribute,
2-35 sell, or possess a controlled substance, marijuana, or a
2-36 dangerous drug in an unlawful manner.
SECTION 3.
2-37 Said chapter is further amended by enacting a new Article 6
2-38 to read as follows:
"ARTICLE 6
2-39 45-20-110. (Index)
2-40 As used in this article, the term:
S. B. 22
-2- (Index)
SB22/AP
3- 1 (1) 'Applicant' means a candidate who is offered public
3- 2 employment with any agency, department, commission,
3- 3 bureau, board, college, university, institution, or
3- 4 authority of any branch of state government or who has
3- 5 commenced employment but has not submitted to an
3- 6 established test for illegal drugs.
3- 7 (2) 'Established test' means the collection and testing
3- 8 of bodily fluids administered in a manner equivalent to
3- 9 that required by the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal
3-10 Workplace Drug Testing Programs (HHS Regulations 53 Fed.
3-11 Reg. 11979, et seq., as amended).
3-12 (3) 'Illegal drug' means marijuana/cannabinoids (THC),
3-13 cocaine, amphetamines/methamphetamines, opiates, or
3-14 phencyclidine (PCP). The term 'illegal drug' shall not
3-15 include any drug when used pursuant to a valid
3-16 prescription or when used as otherwise authorized by
3-17 state or federal law.
3-18 (4) 'Job' means a defined set of key responsibilities
3-19 and performance standards encompassing one or more
3-20 positions sufficiently similar in responsibilities and
3-21 performance standards to be grouped together.
3-22 (5) 'Medical review officer' means a properly licensed
3-23 physician who reviews and interprets results of drug
3-24 testings and evaluates those results together with
3-25 medical history or any other relevant biomedical
3-26 information to confirm positive and negative results.
3-27 (6) 'Position' means a set of duties and
3-28 responsibilities assigned or delegated by competent
3-29 authority for performance by one person.
3-30 45-20-111. (Index)
3-31 (a) The head of each agency, department, commission,
3-32 bureau, board, college, university, institution, or
3-33 authority shall ensure an analysis is completed on all
3-34 jobs in his or her organization to determine those
3-35 positions whose duties and responsibilities warrant
3-36 conducting an established test for illegal drugs in
3-37 accordance with the provisions of this Code section. The
3-38 analysis must be completed by the effective date of this
3-39 article. All jobs established after this date must
3-40 undergo a similar analysis no later than six weeks after
3-41 establishment. An applicant for a designated position
3-42 shall undergo a drug test consistent with these
S. B. 22
-3- (Index)
SB22/AP
4- 1 provisions. Organizations with positions covered under
4- 2 the classified service of the state merit system shall
4- 3 consult with the commissioner of personnel administration
4- 4 before making final determinations and shall provide the
4- 5 commissioner with a list of designated positions and
4- 6 accompanying documentation and analysis.
4- 7 (b) An applicant for state employment who is offered
4- 8 employment in a position designated by the head of the
4- 9 agency, department, commission, bureau, board, college,
4-10 university, institution, or authority as requiring a drug
4-11 test shall, prior to commencing employment or within ten
4-12 days after commencing employment, submit to an established
4-13 test for illegal drugs. All costs of such testing shall
4-14 be paid from public funds by the employing agency or unit
4-15 of state government. Any such test which indicates the
4-16 presence of illegal drugs shall be followed by a
4-17 confirmatory test using gas chromatography/mass
4-18 spectrometry analysis. If the results of the confirmatory
4-19 test indicate the presence of illegal drugs, such results
4-20 shall be reviewed and interpreted by a medical review
4-21 officer to determine if there is an alternative medical
4-22 explanation. If the applicant provides appropriate
4-23 documentation and the medical review officer determines
4-24 that it was a legitimate usage of the substance, the
4-25 result shall be reported as negative. Any applicant who
4-26 fails to provide an alternative medical explanation shall
4-27 be reported by the medical review officer as having a
4-28 positive test result. Any applicant offered employment
4-29 who refuses to submit to an established test for illegal
4-30 drugs or whose test results are positive shall be
4-31 disqualified from employment by the state. Such
4-32 disqualification shall not be removed for a period of two
4-33 years from the date that such test was administered or
4-34 offered, whichever is later. The State Personnel Board
4-35 shall develop rules for the administration of the test and
4-36 any verification procedures for positions covered under
4-37 the state merit system. Other covered units of state
4-38 government shall also develop rules governing these
4-39 procedures. The results of such tests shall remain
4-40 confidential and shall not be a public record unless
4-41 necessary for the administration of these provisions or
4-42 otherwise mandated by other state or federal law."
S. B. 22
-4- (Index)
SB22/AP
SECTION 4.
5- 1 This Act shall become effective July 1, 1995, and shall
5- 2 apply with respect to certain persons entering state
5- 3 employment on or after that date.
SECTION 5.
5- 4 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
5- 5 repealed.
S. B. 22
-5- (Index)
Office of the Secretary of the Senate
Frank Eldridge, Jr., Secretary of the Senate
Last Updated on 01/02/97