Stark Warning On Social Security Budget

Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security, sent the following letter to Senator Robert Byrd, the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 19:

I am writing to express my concern about the impact the funding included for Social Security in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill will have on Social Security employees and service to the public. The subcommittee mark provides $9.093 billion to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for administrative expenses in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. This represents a $401 million reduction from the President's FY 2007 request and is $54 million belowe the FY 2006 appropriation level.

This $401 million reduction means SSA would need to cut an additional 4,000 workyears beyond the budgeted 1 for 3 replacement level in FY 2006 and FY 2007. After implementing a staffing freeze and reducing overtime to minimum operating levels in SSA and the Disability Determination Services, achieving a $401 million reduction would require employee furloughs of approximately 10 days Agency-wide.

Without this funding, SSA will reduce the number of continuing disability reviews (CDRs) processed by 486,000 from a planned level of 597,000 to 111,000. CDRs save $10 for every $1 spent administering them, so this reduction would result in a significant increase in Federal spending.

SSA's administrative expenses are used to pay for the people needed to do the work, so fewer resources mean fewer people to serve the public in all areas of SSA's operations. Because these budget reductions will affect all employees, they will result in major service disruptions across all workloads. These include delays in the public's ability to file for retirement or disability benefits, apply for a replacement SSN card, reach a representative on our 800-number or obtain decisions on pending disability claims and appeals.

I appreciate the support you and Congress have given SSA in the past. However, as Commissioner of Social Security, I believe it is my responsibility to inform you that this reduction is too large and will result in furloughs and service reductions. Once again, I hope I can count on your support for the President's request for SSA. Please do not desitate to contact me or have your staff contact Mr. Dale Sopper, Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance and Management at (410) 965-2914.

Sincerely
Jo Anne B. Barnhart