WIPA Bill Passes House

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

On July 28, the House of Representatives passed the WIPA and PABSS Reauthorization Act of 2009, H.R. 3325, which was introduced by House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John Tanner (D-TN) and Income Security Subcommittee Chairman Jim McDermott (D-WA). The bill amends the Social Security Act to extend through Fiscal Year 2010 the authorization of appropriations for the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) programs. The WIPA and PABSS programs were established by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act to assist Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security disability program beneficiaries with information about existing work incentives, benefits planning, and decisions about work and providing advocacy that beneficiaries may need to secure, regain, or maintain gainful employment.

Remember, authorizing an appropriation is not the same thing as appropriating money. Authorization has to come before money is actually appropriated, but authorization does not actually give an agency any money.