South Carolina House approves unemployment benefits fix

COLUMBIA — The South Carolina House of Representatives has approved a fix to keep thousands of out-of-work South Carolinians from losing access to federal money and to their unemployment benefits.

Rep. Don Bowen, R-Anderson, said the legislation passed its second reading in the House on Tuesday and will face its third and final reading Wednesday.

The legislation will extend unemployment benefits to 79 weeks instead of 59 and will use federal stimulus funds to pay for the added benefits.

The bill is retroactive, Bowen said, which means anyone who qualified for benefits but was denied would be given back pay for those benefit weeks.

Once the legislation receives its final reading, it will go back to the Senate for final approval.

Some legislators criticized the need for this week’s emergency session.

“It is unfortunate that this session was needed and could have been avoided if the Employment Security Commission had informed the General Assembly of the necessity of this fix,” said House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston. “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.”

Bowen said a motion to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford was not allowed because of the rules surrounding the way the Legislature adjourned in June. The Legislature is due to return for its regular session in January.

Because the emergency session was called to discuss only three things, Bowen said, and impeachment was not one of them, the Legislature could not consider it.

The bill regarding impeachment will likely be pre-filed in November, he said.

Sanford came under fire in June, after the Legislature adjourned. He admitted he left the country for five days to spend time with an Argentinean woman he called his “soul mate.” Since then the State Ethics Commission has been investigating Sanford’s travel expenses to determine if he improperly used state vehicles for personal business.

Legislators also considered a measure that appears to be designed to bring jobs to the Palmetto State.

Two measures involving economic development and taxes were also considered, said Rep. Dan Cooper, R-Anderson.

“We won’t be able to get everything done in one day,” he said. “We’ll be finishing everything tomorrow.”

Bowen said they anticipated making an announcement Wednesday concerning the economic development package.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.