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South Carolina ending federal COVID-related unemployment benefits due to "labor shortage"

06 May 2021
 Dan Ackermann

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) on Thursday ordered the termination of the state's participation in all federal, pandemic-related unemployment benefit programs.

Driving the news: McMaster cited labor shortages, but some experts say it's the job climate and not unemployment benefits that is determining the pace at which people are returning to work.

  • The state currently has 81,684 open positions, according to Department of Employment and Workforce Director Dan Ellzey.

What he's saying: "South Carolina’s businesses have borne the brunt of the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," McMaster wrote in a letter to Ellzey.

  • "Those businesses that have survived – both large and small, and including those in the hospitality, tourism, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors – now face an unprecedented labor shortage," he added.
  • "What was intended to be a short-term financial assistance for the vulnerable and displaced during the height of the pandemic has turned into a dangerous federal entitlement."
  • The move takes effect June 30.

The big picture: As economic recovery continues, states have moved to return their labor force to pre-pandemic levels.

  • McMaster's announcement follows a similar move by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) earlier this week, per AP.
  • A Labor Department spokesperson told AP that the department has seen no evidence that enhanced unemployment benefits keep people from seeking work. “Choosing to eliminate these critical benefits will have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable,” the spokesperson said.
  • Several states, including Arizona, Florida and Kentucky, have said they're reinstating full work search requirements for people who receive unemployment benefits.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.