The Department of Employment and Workforce informed me last week of some progress on the overpayment issue.
Through February 28, 2013, South Carolina has collected $8,168,160 from overpaid claimants federal tax refunds. TOPS is just one of the vehicles used to collect monies owed due to UI overpayment and fraud.
When the 2013 tax season ends, dew will release the total figures via a press release.
Gov. Nikki Haley will be in Anderson Monday at 10:15 am. Her visit is to announce a major economic investment in Anderson County. “Project Mustang” is a new employer bringing 250 new jobs generating $9 million in salaries.
You own a business that you run with your money. You have certain criteria for hiring, promotion, salary, benefits, etc. Is it the role of government to dictate criteria for these decisions about your business with your money? I think not.
Yet according to South Carolina code 41-1-85, you can’t use tobacco use as one of these criteria. I’m not aware of any other specific like this in South Carolina Statute that dictates employer’s personnel decisions. S. 180 simply deletes that section.
There is opposition to this bill based on arguments about personal liberty, privacy, and responsibility. Some have pointed out that tobacco users get picked on regularly for the politically correct. I am respectful and sympathetic to these valid points, however, I disagree with the notion that government can dictate this decision on employers. The emphasis is not about tobacco use (whether its good or bad is a different debate), it is about getting government out of the way of commerce.
As usual, this open forum welcomes all viewpoints, so feel free to comment.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”
