Governor Sanford to announce federal loan decision today
Published: December 31, 2008
Updated: December 31, 2008
Governor Mark Sanford will announce his decision on seeking a federal loan for continuation of unemployment benefits Wednesday at 12:15 p.m., according to a press release from the Governor’s office.
The state unemployment fund is set to run dry by the end of Wednesday unless Governor Sanford and state officials can settle on an agreement for the state to tap into a $146 million federal loan that would keep the benefits coming through March.
Gov. Sanford has previously said he won’t request the federal money until the state agency that calculates unemployment figures agrees to an audit by a state watchdog.
The state’s trust fund has been losing money for years as annual payments have exceeded the amount businesses pay in unemployment insurance taxes, according to The Associated Press.
Currently around 77,000 South Carolinians receive state unemployment benefits. The state’s unemployment rate is 8.4%, the third-worst in the nation.
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Employees do not pay these benefits out of their paychecks. It is the responsibility of the employer to pay into the trust fund. The law explicitly states that the tax paid to the Unemployment Security Commission can not be passed on to employees.
As pointed on in this article, and many others about this subject, the trust has been bleeding money for years and there’s no oversight that would allow a third party perspective to suggest changes to the system.
Many times in the past we’ve had employees that were fired for not showing up, or they simply quit, that still received benefits even though the rules say they shouldn’t receive those benefits. That’s one of many instances that can account for the massive loss of funds from the trust. Proper auditing, data collection, and oversight would prevent these, and many other cases, from occurring.
Unfortunately, it is likely that the tax paid by employers will nearly double next year. In turn, employers will cut jobs even more to make up the loss.
Overall, this is a tricky and dangerous situation….
I would like to know how Gov. Sanford thinks the people of SC that are drawing these benefits can afford to live right now without them. Come on people wake up we pay these benefits out of our paychecks so they would be there in case something like this was to happen, they say get a job if there were any jobs out there right now there wouldn’t be so many people unemployed.Who is he to decide this any way the tax payers are the ones that pay his salary and at times like these is when we need it most. Whats it gonna take for him to wake up has all the unemployed people in the state of SC got to go to Columbia and sit on the state house steps
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