COLUMBUS: This past week, the Ohio House finally moved to fix a problem that has been draining real dollars from some of this state's neediest and deserving citizens.

The House voted 94-0 Tuesday to stop deducting unemployment benefits from workers who are receiving Social Security payments.

Ohio holds the dubious distinction of being the only state fully standing in the way of the worker on this issue.

The state looks at how much an unemployed worker is due to receive in a weekly benefit check, subtracts the amount of Social Security the worker is receiving, and hands over the rest — if there is any left.

This miserly touch saves the state on average $12 million to $20 million a year.

But think of that another way.

According to the Legislative Service Commission, from 2004 to '06, about 3,074 workers on average lost out on unemployment benefits after losing their jobs because they were collecting Social Security.

In many cases, these retirees on Social Security went back to work to make ends meet. Money was tight. A paycheck was a necessity, not a luxury, and they felt the pain of losing a job as much as or more than any other worker in Ohio.

The commission estimates the average weekly check denied to these workers was for $258. Some were eligible for 15 weeks of unemployment benefits, others 26 weeks.

Add it up. At the low end, a worker is losing on average $3,870, and as much as $6,708.

That's a lot of money for someone on a fixed income to pay rising utility bills and fill a gas tank, not to mention perks such as food and clothing.

For the state, $20 million in a $52 billion budget is spillage, a drop in the bucket, loose change submerged in the pillows of the proverbial Statehouse couch.

Understand the state doesn't give the employer a break on this issue. Businesses must pay into the unemployment fund whether their workers are on Social Security or not.

So the state has been collecting the insurance premiums and denying the claims.

Legislators have been slow to move on this issue despite what appears to be a rush to action in recent days.

The Senate passed the bill May 1 by a 33-0 vote, but House members were too busy naming highways, stamping clever slogans on license plates and moving other important matters to pay attention to the bill before breaking to attend golfing fundraisers throughout the languid days of summer.

On Tuesday, the distinguished members of the House wanted to demonstrate their newfound seriousness and devotion to the unemployed senior citizen.

Before they voted to pass the bill, they took a separate roll call to make the bill an emergency measure.

Emergency measures become law immediately when the governor signs the legislation rather than 90 days afterward. Gov. Ted Strickland supports the bill and awaits the legislation, pen in hand.

Suddenly the legislators are in a hurry on this issue. They want to give workers their unemployment checks right now.

Where were they last year when state Rep. Joseph Koziura, D-Lorain, introduced the same idea?

Real people with real stories and real bills have lost out on thousands of dollars.

Earlier this year, the Beacon Journal reported that Edward ''Marty'' Martin, a Canton retiree who lost his job on Sept. 11, 2006, was denied unemployment because his Social Security check ''offset'' his benefit.

State Sen. Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton, the bill's sponsor, stated she introduced the legislation after learning about a 77-year-old woman named Norma Jean Addis who was forced to work because her Social Security didn't pay the bills.

And when she lost her job, she was denied her full unemployment benefit.

After the House vote, Padgett released the following statement:

''We are talking about men and women who have spent decades not only getting up to go to work each morning, but
along the way, have contributed greatly to the growth and success of our state. The least we can do for these people is to work to bring some balance to Ohio's unemployment system so seniors are given the benefits they so rightly deserve.''

It is the least lawmakers should do.

They could do more, however. They could go pay unemployment benefits denied over the years to these deserving senior citizens.

It's a safe bet that those deserving senior citizens wouldn't even charge the state interest or a penalty fee for receiving a check, which is more than the state would do for them if they were a day late or a dollar short paying their taxes.