( CNN ) -- If volunteer work is a requirement , is it really volunteer ? Of course not . But that did n't stop Michigan state Sen. Joe Hune from writing a bill that would require certain welfare recipients to do community service in order to receive public assistance . `` The whole intention is to make certain folks have some skin in the game , and I do n't feel that there 's any problem with making folks go out and do some kind of community service in order to receive their cash assistance , '' Hune said . Now as a former welfare recipient , I do n't have a problem with expecting people to work to earn money . But where I come from we call that a job , not volunteerism . Hunes ' bill bastardizes the word while positioning those who challenge it as pro-moocher . It 's a political parlor trick designed to fire up the kind of voters who saw nothing wrong with Mitt Romney 's infamous statement that 47 % of Americans are basically freeloaders . And it reeks of the Reagan Republican worldview that characterizes welfare recipients as parasites or inner-city welfare queens who vote Democratic -- even though seven of the 10 states the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports rely the most on food stamps have Republican governors . The same misdirection applies to the sister bill Hune wrote , which requires drug testing . Reports such as the National Survey of Drug Use and Health suggest drug abuse among welfare recipients is hardly widespread . Many states have tried drug testing for welfare recipients with practically nobody testing positive . In Arizona , for example , in 2012 , after three years and 87,000 screenings , one person had failed a drug test . Utah 's drug screening program spent $ 30,000 on testing and only 2.5 % of recipients turned out positive for illicit drugs . Florida 's program had the same results . In all cases , the testing -- which assumes all welfare recipients are druggies -- cost much more than the savings in welfare payments . And the United States Department of Agriculture found fraud -- selling food stamps illegally -- accounts for a little more than 1 % of all food stamp spending nationally . But that does n't matter . Arguing against testing makes it appear as if you 're pro-illicit drug use . Are there people who abuse the system ? Yes . And growing up I saw them around me . As Paul Ryan once suggested , the safety net can become `` a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency . '' But it was my experience that people who were working but could n't make ends meet far outnumbered the abusers . This is what happens when inflation outpaces wage growth for the better part of 40 years . The richest 20 % of working families took home nearly half -- 48 % -- of the income in 2011 . The bottom 20 % only took in 5 % . These are the sort of details these faux fiscal hawks rarely , if ever , bring up . Which makes today 's demonization and humiliation of poor people even more unethical than when Reagan did it . This characterization of poor people as lazy drug abusers is often cast in the narrative of Democrats representing urban areas with large minority populations fighting Republicans from predominantly white regions . It 's impossible to ignore a racial component here that neither party should foster . There are ways to put people in a position to earn the aid they receive without trying to rebrand exploitation as volunteerism . For example , establish a program similar to the work-study on college campuses , in which qualified people could have access to jobs designated specifically for them . Transportation for America reported that more than 13 % of Michigan bridges are considered structurally deficient , nearly 40 % of the roads are in poor or mediocre condition and 161 dams have been classified as `` high hazard . '' There is work the state needs done , and not all of it requires a degree in civil engineering . More important , polls indicate Michigan voters at least are willing to support a tax increase to address some of the state 's infrastructure needs . If politicians are committed to helping people who are struggling financially but want to discourage sloth , there are creative ways to do that without demonizing the folks who are struggling . But let 's not pretend that work in exchange for money is anything other than a employer-employee relationship . To do otherwise is dehumanizing . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson .
Michigan bill would require some welfare recipients to do community service . LZ Granderson says working for money is a job , not volunteerism . LZ : Second bill requires drug testing , even though few recipients abuse drugs . LZ : Creative ways exist to earn aid that do n't exploit or demonize poor people .