Washington Post on SSA Budget Problems

From the Federal Diary Column by Stephen Barr in today's Washington Post:

The Social Security Administration would be forced to send employees home without pay and shut offices 10 days next year if Congress does not increase its funding in fiscal 2007, the agency has told Congress.

"Fewer resources mean fewer people to serve the public in all areas of SSA's operations," Jo Anne B. Barnhart , the Social Security commissioner, said in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Because these budget reductions will affect all employees, they will result in major service disruptions across all workloads."

If the agency resorts to furloughs, the Social Security network of 1,300 field offices would close, probably a day at a time over a five- to six-month period. On those days, the public would not be able to apply for Social Security numbers, replace Social Security cards, file for retirement or disability benefits or obtain decisions on pending disability claims and appeals. ...

"For an agency like ours, it is kind of a shock," said Richard Warsinskey , president of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations.

Warsinskey said he understands that companies lay off and furlough employees in bad economic times, "but this is a public service issue." He said, "We don't want to take a well-run agency and make it mediocre because we don't get enough money."

Mark Lassiter , the Social Security press officer, said no decisions on furloughs have been made. The House and Senate have not finished work on the agency's budget and Barnhart "remains hopeful that the president's budget request will be approved by Congress," he said.

The Senate bill would provide about $9 billion for the agency -- about $400 million less than the president's request and about $54 million less than what the agency received for this year's budget. The House proposal would leave Social Security about $200 million short of what the White House is seeking.

The agency's budget may not be resolved until after the November elections, congressional aides said. A spokeswoman for the Senate Appropriations Committee said House and Senate negotiators would review the agency's funding and staffing levels later this year. Many agencies are likely to face budget squeezes next year, in part because Congress faces tough decisions on financing the Iraq war and homeland security.

Social Security, headquartered in Baltimore, has about 65,000 employees, and officials estimate that more than 40 percent of its workforce will retire by 2014. It appears that not all departing employees will be replaced because of budget pressures. Only one employee is being hired for every three that depart, according to 2006 and 2007 budget plans.

Darryl Perkinson , president of the Federal Managers Association, said reduced appropriations for Social Security will probably worsen the backlog of cases in the agency's Office of Disability and Adjudication Review. The association estimates the backlog has grown to 730,000 cases with an average processing time of 481 days. The group is urging Congress to pass the president's budget request and support adequate staffing levels in the disability review office. ...

In her letter, Barnhart indicated that the Senate's proposal to provide $400 million less than in the president's budget would require a hiring freeze, overtime reductions and other overhead cuts in addition to a 10-day furlough of staff. ...