SC House passes unemployment benefits fix

The state House of Representatives on Tuesday gave initial approval to a legislative fix that will allow unemployed residents access to federal stimulus money for extended benefits.

The measure should be headed to the state Senate for final approval by Wednesday afternoon.

“The legislative fix that we made today will ensure that thousands of unemployed South Carolinians will not have their unemployment benefits prematurely cut off,” House Speaker Bobby Harrell said.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 113 to 0. Lawmakers made the fix retroactive so that people who were recently denied federal unemployment money will now be eligible for further help. The House will give the bill final reading on Wednesday.

This all started when Congress made stimulus money available for unemployment benefits in states with the highest jobless rates. To get the funds, state lawmakers had to pass a rule that temporarily changed the measure they use to trigger emergency jobless benefits, which states give out during times of high unemployment.

But the Legislature, in the middle of a political spat over the structure of the Employment Security Commission, failed to make the change.

Without this special session, unemployed South Carolinians stood to miss out on five months of benefits.