COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina is missing out on nearly $100 million in federal stimulus dollars for unemployment benefits, and it will be months before jobless residents see the money, if at all.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Sunday that the money is intended to cover more women and part-time and low-wage workers who currently don't qualify for unemployment checks.
In South Carolina, the changes could provide another nearly 17,000 jobless residents with benefits.
House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, a Republican, said it hardly makes sense to add people to the dole that already is running a projected $1 billion deficit, money that state businesses will have to pay back at some point.
On the other side, legislators such as Democratic Rep. Joe Neal argue for civility and fairness. Employers make contributions for every worker on the payroll to the fund that pays out unemployment benefits, he noted.
"This is not a giveaway," Neal said. "These people have earned this protection. Hundreds of thousands of folks have lost their job through no fault of their own."
Congress tried to entice the states to update the 1930s-era social welfare program by including $7 billion in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
The Legislature could have made changes to get the money when it reconvened last month in a special two-day session to fix an oversight that had blocked other unemployment benefits, but lawmakers wouldn't agree to do so.
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