State Of Social Security Budget For FY 2009

From the Capitol Insider put out by the Disability Policy Collaboration:

The House and Senate passed the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 that provides $10.7 billion for the Social Security Administration’s administrative expenses. This amount is $240 million above the President’s request. The additional resources are provided “to address the serious backlog of disability claims and hearings, as well as other backlog workloads for which additional resources are needed.” The conference agreement also rejects the President’s private account proposal for Social Security. The additional amount can be realized only if the Congress actually appropriates the funds through the FY 2009 L-HHS-Ed appropriations bill or a FY 2009 Continuing Resolution.

On June 6, fifty-two Senators signed a letter to Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Specter (R-PA), Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, supporting an appropriation of $240 million more than the President requested for the Social Security Administration’s administrative expenses. The letter cited the major delays in holding hearings on disability claims and SSA’s inability to process other important workloads.

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