Jul 9, 2008

Today Is The Deadline

Under Executive Order (EO) 12866 any regulation proposed by any agency must be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. EO 12866 sets forth a 90 deadline for OMB to act upon a regulatory proposal. This deadline can be extended by 30 days.

On April 10, 2008 the Social Security Administration submitted proposed new mental impairment listings to OMB for approval. As of this writing, OMB has taken no action on this regulatory proposal. OMB's time is up today. Either OMB must take action on this proposal or extend the time period.

Some are hopeful that what is in this proposal will help people who suffer from mental illness, particularly those who suffer from mental retardation. Some are fearful that the proposed listings would hurt mentally ill claimants. A lot of people are just apprehensive.

In any case, it is far too late for any final mental impairment listings to be finally adopted during the Bush Administration. All that OMB can approve now would be proposed regulations. The proposed regulations would then be published in the Federal Register for public comments. Final regulations could not be adopted until at least next year.

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