Across South Carolina

Bill to change agency for jobless advances

COLUMBIA --- A bill giving Gov. Mark Sanford control of the agency that handles jobless claims advanced with unanimous support Wednesday from a subcommittee amid questions from legislators on how the measure would help put workers back to work.

Apart from renaming the Employment Security Commission the Workforce Department and making it a part of the Cabinet, the bill's only other substantial aim is to eventually take unemployment benefit appeals out of the hands of the commission's three members and put them before administrative law judges.

The bill, introduced Tuesday afternoon by Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee Chairman Sen. Greg Ryberg, found itself on an unusually fast track with Wednesday's hearing. Only Lewis Gossett, the president of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, and a South Carolina Chamber of Commerce representative showed up to support it.

Mr. Ryberg, who ran the hearing, said there was enough notice for opponents to weigh in and said he told the Employment Security Commission of the hearing.

House OKs creation of payday loan database

COLUMBIA --- The South Carolina House gave overwhelming approval Wednesday to a bill aimed at preventing residents from being trapped in a cycle of debt through payday lending.

The proposal, approved 93-16, prevents consumers from taking out more than one loan at a time, up to $600.

An online database -- which must be up by Feb. 1, 2010 -- would instantly report when a loan is made. Lenders must check it to ensure customers don't have outstanding loans elsewhere.

In South Carolina, lenders charge $15 for every $100 borrowed on a two-week loan.

The bill requires the industry to let customers go into an extended payment plan if they can't meet that deadline, without incurring any extra fees.

The bill requires another perfunctory vote in the House before heading to the Senate.

Medicaid won't drop state hospice program

COLUMBIA --- South Carolina's Medicaid agency has decided not to eliminate a hospice program as planned, enabling more than 100 poor patients to continue getting end-of-life care, the state health department said Wednesday.

"For the sake of putting people's minds at ease and letting them know the services will be there, we said we'd go ahead and continue," Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Jeff Stensland said.

The cut, expected to save the state $1.5 million through June 30, would have affected about 125 hospice patients funded solely through Medicaid -- dying patients too young to qualify for Medicare, Mr. Stensland said.

The number represents about 6 percent of hospice patients statewide.