Why McMaster hasn’t applied yet for SC residents to get $300 more in unemployment benefits
South Carolinians out of work and in need of extra financial support may soon have some extra cash in their bank accounts.
State officials are working on extending unemployment benefits available through a federal program put in place to help workers in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
But Gov. Henry McMaster first must apply for the support.
The state’s workforce agency charged with doling out unemployment benefits recommended to McMaster in a memo Tuesday that he apply for $300 per week in additional aid through the federal government’s offer of an enhanced employment benefit system. That option, one of two being offered, would save the state from spending $20 million a week as it continues to deal with a COVID-19 financial impact, officials said.
Though he publicly stated his support for the program earlier this month, McMaster has yet to formally apply for the federal program announced by President Donald Trump.
It’s not for lack of trying, the governor’s office said Tuesday, attributing the delay in the state’s request to determining whether the state can shoulder the cost.
“The governor supports the president’s plan in the absence of congressional action and is working with legislative leaders to determine what, if any, financial liability South Carolina taxpayers would possibly incur and whether the state has sufficient funds to pay for the match before applying to participate,” said Brian Symmes, the governor’s spokesman.
“As always, the governor will do what he believes is in the best interest of South Carolina as a whole.”
Under Trump’s initial order, roughly 223,000 South Carolinians who currently get unemployment benefits could get an added $300 or $400 per week on top of the state’s normal benefit. South Carolina’s average weekly unemployment benefit is $236, according to the Department of Employment and Workforce. And the maximum weekly unemployment benefit is about $326.
In order to get that $400 extra, Trump’s plan would require a cost-share between states and the federal government — 25% from the state and 75% from the federal government.
In this case, states would cover $100 of the enhanced weekly payment, meaning a cost of upwards of $462 million to South Carolina.
In DEW’s four-page memo obtained by The State, it said of the 30 states that the federal government approved, 28 applied for the $300 option and only two other states applied for the $400 option.
South Carolinians would be eligible for the program if they get at least $100 weekly in unemployment insurance benefits, the memo said. All but 12,500 South Carolinians on unemployment would be eligible for the benefit because they get at least $100 weekly in benefits.
DEW is recommending the state go with the $300 option for a brief period of time, which would put the state on the hook for less money because the state wouldn’t have to provide a match.
“We recommend that South Carolina submit an application for the $300 option for a specified period of time, such as five weeks,” DEW’s director, Dan Ellzey, said in a memo sent to McMaster and to chamber and budget leaders.
“This allows South Carolina to deliver enhanced weekly benefit amounts to our claimants with minimal cost to the State. Even though there is the potential for costs due to fraudulent payments, this appears to be a reasonable trade-off in order to receive an estimated $280 million in federal funding available under the LWA (Lost Wages Supplemental Payment Assistance) program.”
The memo also said that if a claim is in pending or appeal status when the money runs out, that person will not get the added payment, even if they are eligible to get one, unlike before when benefits were drawn from funding provided by the CARES Act.
This month, S.C. budget writers were sour on whether the state could cough up enough cash for the match.
South Carolina has witnessed a massive decline in expected money this year after the COVID-19 outbreak forced the governor to shut down businesses and schools. The shutdown and the lack of tourism ultimately decimated what the state had prepared to have this year — about $1.9 billion in new dollars in a $10.2 billion general fund budget.
And of the roughly $600 million in one-time federal aid the state has leftover, lawmakers are likely to use another large sum to shore up the state’s unemployment trust fund that had a balance of $566 million as of Aug. 1.
“Unfortunately, our revenues are declining and we’ve got to really make decisions which prepare for the worst and hope for the best as we move forward in this budget process,” House budget chairman Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, said earlier this month. “These are strange times. We all thought COVID would be behind us at this point, and it’s still raging across the country.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
