House Amendment 4
H 4710 - Session 125 (2023-2024)
Maximum potential employment benefits
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Reps. Cobb-Hunter, Kirby, and Rivers propose the following amendment (LC-4710.DG0013H):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 1 and inserting:

SECTION X. Section 41-35-50 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 41-35-50. The maximum potential benefits of any insured worker in a benefit year are the lesser of:
 (1) twenty times his weekly benefit amount;
 (2) one-third of his wages for insured work paid during his base period.
 If the resulting amount is not a multiple of one dollar, the amount must be reduced to the next lower multiple of one dollar, except that no insured worker may receive benefits in a benefit year unless, subsequent to the beginning of the next preceding benefit year during which he received benefits, he performed "insured work" as defined in Section 41-27-300 and earned wages in the employ of a single employer in an amount equal to not less than eight times the weekly benefit amount established for the individual in the preceding benefit year.(A) The number of weeks an individual is allowed to receive unemployment benefits must be determined on an individual county basis based on the unemployment rate for the county that applies to the six-month reference period that includes the effective date of the claim. One six-month reference period begins on January first and one six-month reference period begins on July first. For the reference period that begins January first, the average of the county's unemployment rate for the county for the preceding months of July, August, and September apply. For the reference period that begins July first, the average of the county's unemployment rates for the county for the preceding months of January, February, and March apply.
 (B) The total benefits paid to an individual equals the individual's weekly benefit amount allowed under Section 41-35-40 multiplied by the number of weeks applicable to the claimant's county of residence.
 (C) The number of weeks multiplier for the six counties with the lowest unemployment rate equals twelve weeks. The number of weeks multiplier for the next five counties with the lowest unemployment rate shall increase by one additional week. This process of increasing one additional week shall continue until all forty-six counties have been considered and the multiplier for the five counties with the highest unemployment rate equals twenty weeks.