South Carolina man repays California for its assistance in 1964

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California's budget crisis has eased a bit, thanks to a South Carolina man grateful to the state for helping him 46 years ago.

Dennis R. Ferguson wrote a check for $10,000 to the state treasury Nov. 23 as "repayment for what California did for me" when he was laid off from his aerospace engineering job in 1964.

Ferguson, a 74-year-old retired computer programmer who lives in the Atlantic coastal community of Fripp Island, S.C., said the four months' worth of unemployment benefits he collected after losing his job with Douglas Aircraft allowed him to re-train for a new career in computers.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said Ferguson's money will be spent on schools, as required by state law.

(snip)

Ferguson was 26 and living in a run-down, $25-a-week West Los Angeles motel when he collected state aid. Officials of the state Employment Development Department estimate that his total benefits during the four months totaled about $1,100.

Ferguson said he wanted to show his appreciation for the assistance by adding "interest" to his repayment. He said he picked $10,000 because it is a "nice round number."

Full story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-unemployment-check-20101217,0,4277215.story

He chose to do it, that's great! But Mitt Romney has said that the umemployed should pay their own unemployment benefits by law.

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1. Pretty cool.

The number might be because that's the amount of gift you can make without paying gift tax.