COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina prison guards and other employees are getting a $500 bonus in their paychecks the week of Christmas.
The extra money is a well-deserved reward for working through the COVID-19 pandemic and comes from money saved because the prison system currently has more than 1,300 vacant jobs, state Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling told The State newspaper.
More than 3,900 guards, medical workers, food service employees and others who work directly with inmates will get the $500, Stirling said.
The prison workers deserve the bonuses because they are “risking their lives just like others who are going to medical facilities and hospitals. They’re true heroes to me,” Stirling said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in mid-March, more than 660 state prison employees have been infected with COVID-19, and two have died from the disease. More than 2,400 inmates have been infected, and 34 have died, according to the Corrections Department.
Even more state employees would have received hazard pay bonuses under the state budget passed by South Carolina senators in September. Their spending plan included $1,000 bonuses for state employees who made less than $50,000 and regularly dealt with the public such as state troopers and health care workers.
But House leaders decided instead to copy and paste last year’s budget, saying they did not want to add any new spending because tax revenues could drop with so much uncertainty in the economy.
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