Cross-posted from Barry Nestande's post on the Flash Report

At the start of the school year, my boss, Assemblyman Benoit, announced a new contest for high-schoolers in Riverside County, called "There Ought To Be A Law." This was a simple idea to promote civic involvement among our students, and it turned out to surpass all of my expectations! First, we were greatly impressed by the more than 200 submissions we received, a commendable effort by young people to be engaged in our State government.

(Caption: Assemblyman John J. Benoit, with RJ's Law co-author Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, walking out of the Assembly Chambers with RJ Feild)

But one essay clearly rose to the top, and that was the submission from RJ Feild, a Riverside high school sophomore who articulated a bold new law and explained his very inspirational story.

Feild has persisted in school and even serves as a student delegate to his school district despite being afflicted by spastic triplegic cerebral palsy, a condition of being born at two pounds, two ounces with traces of heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, alcohol, and cocaine in his body. Feild, whose pregnant mother consumed illegal drugs while on state assistance, proposed ''RJ's Law'' to break the destructive cycle of supporting drug addicts with public assistance monies.

RJ's Law (Assembly Bill 2389) would have applied the same standard for drug screening that employees undergo in order to obtain employment, a precursor to paying taxes, to welfare recipients. AB 2389 would have instituted random drug testing analysis to be performed on welfare recipients. If an individual failed a drug test, he or she would be given the option of successfully completing a one year drug treatment program or being removed from the state welfare rolls.

RJ did a lot of work to promote his idea, including traveling to Sacramento twice to formally introduce the bill and on Tuesday to testify in a public hearing before the Assembly Human Services Committee. RJ is a hero, and he showed great courage through this process, in the face of liberal and bureaucratic opposition, and under a national spotlight to explain his struggles and his hopes that no child should ever have to needlessly suffer what he had to.

On Tuesday, the Assembly Human Services Committee dealt a huge setback to reforming our broken system of dependency by voting on a party-line vote of 2-4 against RJ's proposal. I am outraged by Assembly Democrats' reckless vote against RJ's Law, especially as they voted the same day to pass a measure giving food stamps to convicted drug criminals. In the midst of a $16 billion deficit, RJ's Law would have dispensed hard-earned tax dollars wisely, money that was earned by employees who had to undergo even-stricter drug testing.

Nevertheless, I am proud of RJ for telling his story to a national audience, and I'm pleased to share with you a sample of the news coverage:

View - Desert Sun: Panel rejects drug testing for welfare recipients

View - Press Enterprise: Riverside teen's drug-testing idea meets opposition in Assembly

View - ABC News: Drug testing for pregnant welfare women?

View - CBS News: The Cost Of Addiction: R.J's Story

View - CBS News: A New Chapter In R.J.'s Story

View - Sacramento Bee: His idea Welfare drug tests

View - FOX News: California Considers Welfare Drug-Screening Law Proposed By Disabled Teen