S.C. House approves unemployment benefit extensions, Senate pending

Around 3 o’clock Wednesday afternoon the S.C House passed a third and final reading of a measure to change legal rules allowing tens of millions of federal stimulus dollars to flow to unemployed.  A senate approval is pending.

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina state representatives
lawmakers have given key approval to extending unemployment
benefits to thousands of residents.

    The measure is expected to head to the state Senate on
Wednesday. Legislative leaders summoned lawmakers to Columbia after
the benefits ran out for nearly 7,000 unemployed South Carolinians
earlier this month.

    More than 113,000 people already have exhausted state and
federal regular and extended benefits. Legislators need to pass a
technical change in state law to keep an extra seven weeks of
emergency benefits flowing.

see previous News 2 article from October 15
The South Carolina Employment Security Commission announced that the state’s Extended Benefits program has come to an end.
Citing a set formula outlined in state and federal laws as the reason that the state qualifies for the program, the Employment Security Commission announced that the unemployment rate among the number of workers eligible for unemployment insurance fell below the federal government’s standard, automatically ending the Extended Benefits program. The last week in which Extended Benefit payments will be issued is this week ending.

Should South Carolina re-qualify for the program, or a extension become available, all qualified claimants will be notified by mail and provided specific instructions at that time. This is not to be confused with the federal extension of unemployment benefits.

News 2 spoke to Ashley Williams, 26, a single mother who says she’s moving to California to live with her mother because she relied on the extended benefits program to pay her bills. She said she was told it could be cancelled at any time, but thought they would give at least 7 days notice.

“I’m worried because for the last year, I’ve looked for a job. I’m not one of these people that want to get a check. I’m not one of these people that can actually say I sit back on my butt,“ said Williams.

“They don’t give me 7 days notice to prepare for this? That’s not fair. By no means is that fair,“ said Williams.

News 2 spoke to the South Carolina Employment Security Commission who explained the program is a week to week state benefit, triggered in March because of the high unemployment rate.

But South Carolina no longer meets unemployment rate required by the state legislature to continue the program. As the Commission was notified, they sent out news releases and letters to those on extended benefits.

The Commission says U.S. Congress is currently working on another extended benefits program which will hopefully be in place soon. As soon as it is, the S.C. Employment Commission will send out
notices to people qualified and send out news releases.

Williams said something needs to happen soon.

“There’s a lot of people in South Carolina who are struggling like I am,“ said Williams, “Or actually, they’ve already exhausted theirs and they don’t even know how they’re going to make it- how they’re going to feed their children.