South Carolina Democrats spoke out today in response to news that thousands of unemployed South Carolinians will not receive five months of unemployment benefits because legislators failed to introduce a bill enabling the state to seek funds from the federal government. Congress made money available temporarily through the $787 billion stimulus package that would extend unemployment benefits in states with the highest jobless rates. Taxpayers wouldn’t have had to pay this money back to the federal government. South Carolina was only one of two states eligible not receiving the benefits.

“The Republican-controlled South Carolina House and Senate really let our state’s unemployed workers down by not doing their jobs. The GOP leadership in the General Assembly has been so busy engaged in an intraparty fight with Governor Mark Sanford over power and political ideology that they’ve forgotten about the thousands of South Carolinians that remain unemployed due to their disastrous policies over the last seven years. You would think the Republican legislative leadership would realize their constituents are hurting and deserve more than just being just overlooked,” said South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Director Jay Parmley.