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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has ordered all federal, pandemic-related unemployment programs in the state to end on June 30, citing workforce shortages.
In a memo to South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce Director Daniel Ellzey, McMaster said that businesses “face an unprecedented labor shortage” attributed caused by pandemic-related benefits given on top of state unemployment benefits.
McMaster said what was intended to be short-term assistance turned into “dangerous federal entitlement, incentivizing and paying workers to stay at home rather than encouraging them to return to the workplace.”
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“Since the Biden administration and Congress appear to have little to no comprehension of the damage being done and no appetite to terminate the federal payments, the State of South Carolina must take action,” McMaster wrote.
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Lawmakers indicated they would support waiving repayments for non-fraud overages
An unprecedented surge in applications for unemployment benefits overwhelmed the state Division of Employment Security, Assistant Secretary Pryor Gibson told state lawmakers this week. And nearly a year into the pandemic, it is still struggling.
More than 1.4 million North Carolinians have applied for unemployment benefits since last March, when the COVID-19 pandemic first shut down large segments of the economy and led to record layoffs.
“Our offices continue to get calls that we can’t often get answers for in dealing with [DES],” said Sen. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson), co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance, in Tuesday’s meeting. “North Carolina citizens deserve an employment system that works for them.”