Stephen Barr On Social Security Budget

Stephen Barr writes the Federal Diary column for the Washington Post. Here are some excerpts from his column for February 6:

The president's budget mostly looks to the next year in a positive light. But there's some frank talk, too.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue declared his agency "is now at a crossroads." Baby boomers are retiring and "we are facing an avalanche of retirement and disability claims," he wrote in his fiscal 2009 budget message released Monday. ...

Compared to other agencies, Social Security and Homeland Security are doing fairly well in the budget derby -- President Bush would give both a funding increase of at least 6 percent.

But it may take more than that. It's clear that many federal programs can only run smoothly when properly staffed.

Take Social Security. In recent years, the agency's field offices have lost staff, and waiting times for the public have increased. More than 50 percent of people who call a field office get a busy signal. At some offices, people who show up without an appointment often wait an hour or longer to be checked in, and then wait some more to see a claims representative.

"Without sustained, adequate funding, this situation will only worsen," Astrue wrote in his budget message.

The president and Astrue are not far apart on their requests to Congress. Bush's budget would provide $10.3 billion to cover administrative expenses at the Social Security Administration. Astrue has requested $100 million more, or $10.4 billion, to administer Social Security programs and benefits.

More would be better, according to nearly 50 organizations, including employee groups, that wrote the White House budget office requesting $11 billion for Social Security in fiscal 2009. The Federal Managers Association, for one, contends Bush's budget request does not provide enough funding to tackle a huge backlog, especially disability cases, at the agency.

In a message to employees yesterday, Astrue tried to be reassuring, saying that the 2009 budget "will put us in a better position to handle the onslaught of work we are confronting."

That's partly because Congress last year provided Social Security with $148 million more than Bush sought. Astrue said that funding will permit the agency to lift a hiring freeze, hire 175 administrative law judges and increase the number of call center employees.

Still, the staffing growth seems small. For fiscal 2009, staffing would go up by 351 full-time employees, to 76,821, according to the budget. That remains lower than in 2007, when 77,855 employees were on board.