Tennesse | Unemployment reform efforts divide

Joseph Green wonders if he has a target on his back — and if it’s about to get bigger.

The Springfield man said he sometimes feels as if he’s being labeled as a second-class citizen because he has been out of work for nearly two years.

But with state legislators considering tougher rules and more paperwork before the unemployed can collect benefits, plus a proposal to block payments if new claimants fail job-related drug tests, Green sees the political atmosphere going from bad to worse.

“I feel like it’s discrimination, especially against us folks who live out in the country where there aren’t that many jobs,” he said.

Tennessee is among several states that have restricted or want to restrict jobless aid by reducing benefits, tightening eligibility criteria and mandating minimal job-search efforts and possible drug tests of recipients, among other measures…

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