The Senate on Tuesday passed Gov. Jim Gilmore's plan to aid unemployed Virginians – a proposal aimed especially at helping thousands of laid-off textile workers in the Martinsville area.

The plan now goes to the House, which in February passed a more comprehensive measure.

The House plan, crafted largely by Democrats, would boost unemployment benefits in some cases by 43 percent. Gilmore's proposal would increase benefits by about 17 percent.

The proposals were a response to massive layoffs in Southside Virginia. Last month, Delegate Ward L. Armstrong, D-Martinsville, told the House that his city was fighting a losing battle.

"Unless help was received from this body, things are only going to get worse. This is our plight, our hour of need, our last chance – I have to turn to you," he said.

The delegates passed the bill, sponsored by Delegate Robert D. Hull, D-Falls Church, 53-45, to compensate the unemployed in areas with double the state’s average unemployment rate, now at 2.6 percent.

Armstrong told the delegates that 20 percent of his constituents have lost their jobs. The situation was affecting not just their pockets but the infrastructure of the area, where grocery stores and banks were beginning to fail, he said.

Legislators heard that Martinsville, a once prosperous community, was brought to its knees by the closing of the textile factories. But some lawmakers questioned whether each community with a factory closing, such as Honeywell in Hopewell, would be entitled to the unemployment compensation.

Delegates heard there was a $1.32 billion surplus in the unemployment trust fund, a fund that is paid into solely by employers, not taxpayers. Paying the Martinsville workers would take out only $48 million, officials said.

Some legislators argued that this will give the workers 75 percent of their annual income, tax-free, and would deplete the unemployment fund, leaving it with just $500 million within three years.

Nine busloads of unemployed textile workers from Martinsville, a community in Southside Virginia near the North Carolina line, have traveled to Richmond on three separate days to make themselves heard at the General Assembly, Armstrong said.

He said Martinsville and Henry County have been famous for their agriculture, furniture and textiles since the turn of the century. In the past six months, six factories have closed, including Tultex, the maker of fleecewear, Pluma, 5Bs embroidery, Ashmore Sportswear, Hampco and Virginia Embroidery, he said. The area has lost 3,820 jobs since the factories closed and filed for bankruptcy, he said.

Armstrong said it was difficult to pinpoint why the textile industry went under. "It was an evil convergence of several factors," he said.

Intense competition from factories in Mexico and the Caribbean combined with the lack of tariffs on imports have contributed to the financial woes of the companies, he said.

"These foreign countries have no regulations on minimum wage, health or environment," Armstrong said.

He said the North American Free Trade Agreement is an unsound policy. It produces short-term profits and brings in cheaper goods, but hurts the American infrastructure in the long run as American workers lose their jobs, the legislator said.

Department stores, such as Belks in Martinsville, were crowded before Christmas, as recently laid-off workers returned gifts they had bought in October, Armstrong said.

"It was heartbreaking," he said, "to see people returning presents in return for money so they could buy groceries."