By MICHAEL LUO
Published: August 10, 2010
Early last year, while still a rising G.O.P. star, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina led a chorus of Republican governors criticizing the federal stimulus package and vowing to reject at least some of the money being directed to their states
The governors focused their ire, in particular, on provisions that pushed states to expand jobless benefits to some previously ineligible workers, like those seeking only part-time work or people new to the work force. They argued that the changes would lead to tax increases.
Two months ago, however, with the bright lights of political promise dimmed by a scandal involving an extramarital affair, Mr. Sanford quietly signed a bill passed by the Legislature that expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits. The move paved the way for the state to claim $97.5 million in stimulus money to bolster its financially ailing unemployment insurance trust fund.
The federal Department of Labor announced Tuesday that South Carolina had officially cleared its approval process and that the stimulus money was being released immediately.
The reversal by Mr. Sanford attracted virtually no notice, but it made South Carolina the 33rd state in the country to expand jobless benefits to qualify for its full share of stimulus money under the program, according to the National Employment Law Project, a liberal advocacy group.
Mr. Sanford joined several other governors who had initially expressed hesitation about the money but later relented, including Dave Heineman of Nebraska and Sonny Perdue of Georgia, both Republicans, and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat.
In South Carolina, the expansion of jobless benefits was part of a broader measure to overhaul the handling of the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, which is nearly $1 billion in the red.
The eligibility changes, which also cover workers forced to leave a job because of an illness in the family or because a spouse moved, take effect in 2011.
