(RALEIGH) -- Out-of-work North Carolinians have made their emotional pleas to state lawmakers in hopes of getting their unemployment benefits back. Ken Williams is one of thousands of people who lost unemployment benefits two weeks ago. Williams said that the lack of a job, and now the lack of unemployment benefits, has forced him to become a person that he has never been before.

"Last night I went to my daughter's, she wanted to borrow something from me and she had to give me gas money to get there and I've never been like that in my life," said Williams in an emotional plea.

Unemployment benefits in the state were lost for 37, 000 people when Gov. Beverly Perdue vetoed legislation that would have extended the jobless checks. The governor objected to a backup budget plan included in the bill that would have cut state spending by 13 percent if lawmakers did not pass a formal plan by June 30.