More egg on ESC's face

Another week, another debacle at the state Employment Security Commission. Too bad the commission's staggering incompetence has become most evident as South Carolina suffers from its worst unemployment rate in a generation.

The most recent example of agency ineptitude is ESC's inability to provide extended benefits for those who have been jobless for more than 79 weeks. The agency's computer can't be immediately programmed to do the job, The Greenville News reports.

Jimmy Jones, assistant deputy executive director of the ESC, told the News that making the necessary adjustments will take at least two weeks. He added, "It could be longer." Meanwhile, replacing the 23-year-old computer system awaits a multi-state feasibility study that could take at least 18 months.

Apparently, the Employment Security Commission is willing to operate on geologic time.

In another recent development, the commission sent out 150 duplicate unemployment checks in mid-November. It was a repeat of a mistake in July, when 1,250 were mailed. Note that the recent number of duplicate checks was smaller; maybe that rates as a sign of improvement.

Early in November, state Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom reported that a financial audit of the agency found it hadn't balanced its books for a year. That was more than a little troubling since the ESC handles hundreds of millions of public money each year. Meanwhile, the state has been forced to borrow $1 billion in federal funds to maintain unemployment payments to jobless South Carolinians.

In October, the Legislature was forced to go into special session to correct the agency's failure to notify lawmakers earlier about the pending loss of federal payments for extended jobless benefits. About $60 million in payments to tens of thousands was in jeopardy.

The Legislature is expected to receive a comprehensive performance audit of the ESC this month, in preparation for reform plans during the session, which begins in January. Very likely, the Legislative Audit Council has had its hands full.

As they consider reform options, legislators should recognize their own part in the ESC's continuing train wreck. The ESC is headed by a three-member panel of ex-legislators appointed by their former colleagues.

Sen. Greg Ryberg, a long-time critic of the ESC, says that there are "zero qualifications" for serving as a commissioner, except "being a former member of the General Assembly."

The Legislature should provide for agency efficiency and accountability in the same manner that the problems with the Department of Motor Vehicles were fixed. Putting the ESC in the governor's Cabinet will put the responsibility for the agency's operation where it belongs -- with the state's chief executive.

The state's double-digit unemployment rate, the projected duration of its economic problems and the agency's abysmal record all underscore the importance of dealing with this reform issue in the near term.

Jobless South Carolinians have enough problems without having to contend with the continual miscues of an agency that is supposed to help them get through these difficult times.