Clean house now at ESC

The more you examine at the mess created by the state Employment Security Commission, the worse it looks.

--There's the insolvent Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund that S.C. employers eventually will have to restore in the amount of $2.5 billion.

--Nearly $800 million is owed to the federal government for jobless benefits.

--Tens of millions in benefits have been granted to people fired from their jobs for cause, including violence and theft.

--The agency suspended fraud investigations months ago.

--The agency has failed to adequately account for millions in federal stimulus dollars.

--The agency failed to pay withholding taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

--Its governing three-member commission never conducted an annual review of its executive director.

--Then there's the insufficient effort to put put jobless South Carolinians to work, at a time of record increase in the state unemployment rate.

Yes, there are many, many problems. And what has the agency done to correct them while it awaits legislative reform?

Apparently, nothing. The interim director of the agency acknowledged as much in testimony last week.

Referring to recommended improvements, ESC interim director Sam Foster told legislators: "We have been discussing it, but we have not implemented any of them at the present time."

Despite the extensive list of failures documented by the Legislative Audit Council, the state Auditor and the Comptroller General, legislators are considering a plan that will allow the three-member commission to retain a portion of their authority for months and possibly years.

The House plan would allow the commissioners to serve as an appellate board on jobless claims through the end of the year. There is sentiment in the Senate to allow them to carry out the appellate function through the remainder of their terms, which end in 2012.

Are they kidding? Wouldn't any employer, private or public, already have reasonably dismissed the commission for cause?

At least, there is a general acknowledgement among lawmakers that making the ESC a Cabinet agency is the best route to ensure accountability.

Despite the personal shortcomings that Gov. Mark Sanford demonstrated last year, he has a good track record on agency reform. Just look at how he transformed the Department of Motor Vehicles after it was moved to the Cabinet.

But the ESC's reform must include the timely departure of the three ex-legislators who make up the commission. They must be held accountable for the indisputable wreck that has been made of the agency.

Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, had it right when he said, "We've got to start over. There's nothing left but ugly shards of a pathetic bureaucracy."

Allowing the legislatively appointed commissioners to remain in office would be poison to the systemic changes that are required at this agency.