Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Unemployment Insurance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DEW director cites $590 million trust‑fund reserve, outlines placement and fraud‑prevention gains
Summary
Director Cheryl Stanton told a joint review committee the Department of Employment and Workforce has paid off prior federal borrowing, held a $590,000,000 trust‑fund balance as of April 30, and placed roughly 400,000 people into work in recent years while strengthening overpayment recovery and fraud detection.
Cheryl Stanton, director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, told a joint legislative review committee that when she arrived about four years ago the agency was in a crisis on unemployment insurance but has since "not only paid off that debt but we are now at a point where we have a reserve as of April 30 of over $590,000,000 in the trust fund balance." Stanton, speaking to senators and representatives at the committee, repeated program metrics and process changes she said underlie that improvement.
Stanton said the agency has improved benefits timeliness and correctness, reduced overpayments and increased recovery work. "We have recovered far more in overpayments than we've detected going out," she said, and described automation and targeted collections that boosted recoveries. She also told the committee the agency "put nearly 400,000 people to work" across its workforce programs in the past several years.
Committee members pressed for detail about the trust fund figure and timing. Chair Thomas Alexander and others asked whether the April 30 balance included late employer tax payments that arrive after the statement date; Stanton said April 30 is the snapshot used in her presentation and she would update members after pending payments are processed. She explained the statutory rate‑setting formula and said officials consult the Congressional Budget Office and the U.S. Department of Labor when projecting the taxable wage base and benefit payouts.
Members expressed concern that the five‑year rebuild schedule could overburden employers if collections overshoot what is needed and that private‑sector layoffs would be harder to recoup than public‑sector reductions. Stanton responded that the agency monitors weekly claims and benefit outlays closely and would alert the legislature if payouts rose enough to threaten the trust fund.
Stanton also described fraud‑prevention measures. She said the agency watches IP addresses and shares indicators with other states, cross‑matches corrections and jail records to block ineligible claims, uses tax‑return intercepts and involuntary wage withholdings, and works with a full‑time SLED agent for criminal investigations. "In the last, I believe it's 4 years, we have detected... and prevented almost $1,000,000 going out in this identity theft issue," she said.
The committee took no formal action on policy changes at the meeting. The session ended after a motion to adjourn was approved by voice vote.
