Jobless benefits stopped

Some stimulus-funded construction projects were immediately halted Monday and federal emergency payments to the long-term unemployed were suspended due to one Senator's filibuster of a bill to temporarily extend benefit programs.

"This means that over 23,000 South Carolinians will immediately lose their benefits, and if this bill is not extended, over the next six months 100,000 South Carolinians will lose their benefits," said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.

The Department of Transportation said Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning's blockage of legislation designed to keep a host of federal programs operating forced the agency to furlough nearly 2,000 employees without pay, temporarily shut down highway reimbursements to states worth hundreds of millions of dollars and stalled multimillion-dollar construction projects across the country.

New weekly claims for federally funded emergency unemployment compensation are not being accepted, and regular unemployment checks will not get the extra $25 each week that has been added with federal money, unless the situation is resolved.

The S.C. Employment Security Commission said it is monitoring the situation, and that claims filed for the week ending Feb. 27 are not affected.

The federal Department of Transportation furloughs will temporarily halt stimulus-funded projects across the nation, but only one project in South Carolina, a parking lot resurfacing at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island.

The $262,000 parking-area rehabilitation at Fort Moultrie already had been temporarily delayed due to weather concerns, according to Fort Sumter National Monument Superintendent Bob Dodson. Fort Moultrie is part of the Fort Sumter National Monument.

"With rain expected tomorrow (Tuesday), we were told that it would be delayed," Dodson said Monday. "If that (legislative holdup) is what happened, then it was good timing."

The federal furloughs resulted in the shutdown of construction projects because federal inspectors were pulled off the jobs.

Covering the politics of the Lowcountry, South Carolina and the nation.

Thursday, when Democratic colleagues tried to get him to change his mind about blocking the programs' extension, Bunning wouldn't budge, according to several Senate insiders who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bunning wants the $10 billion price of extending the federal programs offset by reductions in spending elsewhere in the budget. His home state doesn't have projects that will be affected by his action.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky’s senior senator, whose relationship with Bunning hasn’t always been warm, was unhappy that unemployment benefits were allowed to lapse.

"Senator McConnell supports extending unemployment benefits and is disappointed they have expired," said Robert Steurer, a McConnell spokesman. " ... However, he hopes this issue is resolved quickly so that Kentuckians who are out of work will have their benefits restored soon."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., voiced similar sentiments.

"It's hard to argue with a senator who wants to become fiscally responsible, and we should be paying for as much as possible. I respect the right of each senator to hold up major legislation," Graham said. "However, when it comes to unemployment benefits, I don't think it's fair to punish people who've already lost their jobs. You have to be realistic sometimes. The money is running out.

"For people who have lost their jobs, unemployment benefits may be the only income they've got. ... I'm willing to move forward to help them."

Federal agencies and lawmakers spent much of the weekend trying to assess the ripple effects of Bunning's actions.

According to the National Employment Law Project, a liberal research group, some 1.2 million unemployed workers would lose federal jobless benefits this month if Congress doesn't extend them.

Letting the highway program lapse could mean an estimated 90,000 jobs lost. As many as 2 million families could lose access to television because a copyright law expired Sunday night.

According to the law project, states hardest hit by the Monday cutoff would be California and Florida.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the Senate's No. 2 Republican, vowed Sunday that Congress will pass legislation aimed at keeping jobless benefits and other government programs funded.

The Senate isn't expected to act until today at the earliest, and approval is likely to be delayed until the end of the week. The Senate bill is expected to attract several amendments that could slow it down. Once the Senate passes the measure, it still must pass the House of Representatives.

David Slade and Yvonne Wenger of The Post and Courier staff contributed to this story.

Editor's note: Earlier published versions of this story incorrectly identified the state Employment Security Commission. The Post and Courier regrets the error.