Follow jobless aid with reform

The state House of Representatives gave welcome and overwhelming approval Tuesday to a provision making tens of thousands of South Carolinians eligible for federal unemployment relief. The state should expect legislators to give equally strong support for reform of the state Employment Security Commission in January.

After all, the ESC put South Carolina's jobless in the position of losing the extended relief payments when it failed to notify the Legislature about the necessity of action back during the regular session. The Post and Courier brought the problem to light earlier this month. South Carolina stood to lose $60 million or so in federal stimulus benefits.

Amazingly, ESC executive director Roosevelt "Ted" Halley defended the agency's omission, saying that the information was available in the federal stimulus bill. However, that bill was 1,200 pages long -- not exactly easy reading for state lawmakers plowing through the regular session.

And besides, what is the reason for the ESC's existence if not to look after the state's interest on the jobless front?

Since the story broke about the potential loss of benefits, Mr. Halley decided to retire on Nov. 1, about two months earlier than planned. But his departure won't resolve the long-standing woes at the ESC.

Its shortcomings have been cited by Gov. Mark Sanford, House Speaker Bobby Harrell and, most recently by Otis Rawl, president and CEO of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, in a column published Sunday on our Commentary page.

Mr. Rawl cited the failure of the agency to keep the Legislature apprised of the pending insolvency of the state Unemployment Trust Fund, resulting in a $1 billion shortfall.

He further cited the ESC's willingness to blithely pay unemployment compensation to workers who were fired for misconduct or who voluntarily quit their jobs. Those payments amounted to nearly $500 million, or 25 percent of all jobless benefits.

Gov. Sanford and Speaker Harrell have complained about the agency's failure to cooperate with the state Commerce Department on job initiatives.

The state Senate advanced one of the most important efforts for job creation in recent history on Tuesday, when it endorsed an incentive package evidently designed to encourage Boeing's expansion in North Charleston -- a decision that could mean thousands of new jobs.

Speaker Harrell gave strong support to that proposal, while adding, "During these difficult economic times, we need to not only focus intensely on economic development, but also make sure our state's unemployed do not suffer further by being denied access to these federal benefits."

The House will consider the incentive plan today. The Senate will vote on extended jobless benefits. ESC reforms will have to wait for next session.

A lack of accountability is at the core of agency's problems, and a change in governance is required. The ESC is headed by three ex-legislators appointed by their colleagues. This dangerously inept agency should be placed in the governor's Cabinet when the Legislature returns in January.

As Mr. Rawl wrote, the agency is "now at a crisis stage." By its action Tuesday, the Legislature repaired one of the ESC's most obvious errors, but there's more to be done. For example, the state has to restore the Unemployment Trust Fund to solvency.

The ESC had a central role in digging the state into that $1 billion hole. Failing to provide for agency reform next session would be nothing short of complicity in the agency's staggering incompetence.