Unemployed workers in South Carolina are now entitled to an extra $ 300 a week, but tens of thousands of people who depend on two federal unemployment programs are still unable to profit.
In late December, Congress approved a new round of stimulus financing to help boost the country’s economy, which is still being hampered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Part of that law funded an extra $ 300 a week for each eligible unemployment candidate in the country and extended two federal unemployment programs that were created to help support people during the pandemic until at least mid-March.
The SC Department of Employment and Workforce announced on Monday that it has started releasing $ 300 extra a week for qualified applicants. This is good news for the more than 40,000 individuals in late December who were trying to claim the 20 weeks of state unemployment benefits.
“We are extremely excited to start paying these important funds without interruption to continuing applicants,” said Dan Ellzey, director of DEW, in a statement released Monday.
The distribution of that extra money, however, will not provide any immediate support to the more than 100,000 other people who signed up for federal unemployment benefits in late December.
Congress extended two special unemployment programs in December: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which made contractors, self-employed and temporary workers eligible for unemployment benefits for the first time, and Pandemic emergency unemployment compensation, which provided help to people who have already spent their 20 weeks of state eligibility.
DEW is working to restart payments to the thousands of people who continued to apply through these federal programs at the end of last year, but the state agency announced this week that it was awaiting guidance from the federal government on how to implement several changes that were approved. Congress.
This means that none of the people who fall into these two fields will be able to receive their normal benefits of up to $ 326 per week now. It also means that they will be prevented from capturing the extra $ 300 a week preached by Congress.
DEW is still trying to determine how quickly they will be able to change that reality.
“Our agency received only the first guidance from the US Department of Labor and there is still a lot of work to be done to study and implement these complex programs,” said Ellzey.
Reach Andrew Brown at 843-708-1830 or follow him on Twitter @andy_ed_brown.