Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Democrat blames partisanship for jobless benefits oversight

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said partisan politics prevented lawmakers from fixing an unemployment formula earlier this year.

Lawmakers have returned to Columbia for a two-day session, starting today, to alter a state formula so that extended federal unemployment benefits can be restored to roughly 7,000 jobless South Carolinians who lost those benefits last week.

Cobb-Hunter filed a bill in April that would have corrected the formula. But, she said, the bill sat in committee, as Democratic-sponsored bills often do.

"It was thought of," Cobb-Hunter said of the necessary formula change, "just the right person didn't think of it.

"This is an example of what happens when certain people's name is on legislation."

-- John O’Connor

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