Should federal unemployment benefits be restored? Lawsuits contend ending benefits hurt workers and the SC economy.

A business group wants federal unemployment benefits reinstated.

SC Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty has approved the filing of a friend of the court brief challenging the legality of the state ending federal unemployment benefits.

Gov. Henry McMaster and Daniel Ellzey, SC Department of Employment and Workforce head, ended the federal benefits at the request of other business groups and employers.

They contended the $600 a week benefits discouraged employees from returning to work as it was more lucrative to stay home.

Columbia attorney Jack Cohoon, local counsel for the Amicus Brief. SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, filed the lawsuit.

The brief by the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce, the American Sustainable Business Council and others contends that:

• The benefits support businesses by increasing consumer spending.

• They help employers and by supporting workers in finding good jobs.

• Ending benefits hurt unemployed people’s ability to meet the needs of their families as they sought work.

• The jobless need help as the economy recovers.

• Cutting off the benefits does not encourage people to go back to work.

• It disproportionately harms workers of color, women, and their families.

• The benefits should be reinstated retroactively.

Frank Knapp Jr, CEO of the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said the decision hurt small businesses by denying up to $900 million to consumers.