From: ^Commissioner Broadcast
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 11:57 AM
To: Undisclosed recipients
Subject: COMMISSIONER'S BROADCAST--07/02/10
A Message To All SSA And DDS Employees
Subject: FY 2011 Budget Update
I want to update you on the status of our fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget request. It is likely that Congress will not pass our FY 2011 budget by October 1, and we will begin FY 2011 operating under a continuing resolution (CR). The CR will severely limit our spending to a prorated share of our FY 2010 appropriation.
A CR is always disruptive, but will be particularly difficult in FY 2011. For the last two years, we have had an extra $500 million in Recovery Act funding available in addition to our regular annual appropriations. The combination of these two funding sources has allowed us to hire aggressively and work overtime to reduce our disability backlogs, handle increasing claims, and better serve the American public. Under a CR in FY 2011, we will have less funding than under recent CRs to support our higher staffing level because we are not permitted to include the Recovery Act funding as part of our previous year baseline.
Due to this anticipated drop in funding, we must begin preparing for a CR now. Effective immediately, all headquarters and regional office staff components will be in a full hiring freeze. Beginning on October 1 and continuing through the first quarter of FY 2011, our operational components, including the State Disability Determination Services, will only be allowed to replace staffing losses. We will not reduce overtime during the first quarter. However, to fund overtime and this minimal staffing replacement, we must defer any additional hiring and all other costs that are not critically essential to keeping our doors open.
The additional funding we’ve received in the past three years has allowed us to make great strides, and I am proud of our many accomplishments. For 18 straight months, we have reduced the hearings backlog by over 74,000 cases, despite increased applications. At the same time, we have eliminated nearly four months of waiting time for hundreds of thousands of Americans awaiting hearings. In addition, we have improved service across the agency. DDS accuracy and productivity remain high, despite the destructive and unnecessary furloughs and staffing restrictions imposed by some states. We have increased our CDRs and redeterminations, which have resulted in a significant increase in SSI payment accuracy. We have reduced our waiting times in field offices and on the 800 number. In fact, we are answering our 800 number calls faster than any time in nearly a decade. I know the American people appreciate your hard work and dedication.
While we must make steep cuts in our spending, I will do what I can to minimize the disruption to our positive momentum. This plan is a temporary measure that we cannot sustain beyond December; I am hopeful that the CR will end before we have to take more drastic measures. Our services are vital to the financial stability of millions of Americans, and you can be sure I will be doing everything possible to persuade Congress to approve the critical funding that the President has requested for us.
Michael J. Astrue
Commissioner
Jul 2, 2010
Hiring Freeze
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15 comments:
Ouch. I wonder what sort of "drastic measures" he is referencing.
There are a number of ways that spending could be curbed at SSA and not markedly affect public service. One start would be to close and/or consolidate small unproductive offices and resident stations. CO is bloated with redundancy as well, but we all know that cutting there is pretty unlikely.
I'm not sure closing small office will help all that much. Employees will be reassigned, not laid off. So no savings there. I doubt you could get out of a lease. Maybe savings down the road but none immediately. You would have to assume supplies wouldn't be saved because supply costs in other offices would go up.
If postions are moved to larger offices with higher locality pay rates and higher facility rents, the costs rise.
How in the hell do a agency waste billions each fiscal year?
Answer:ask social security they should be able to explain how to do it.
I notice the commissioner is trying hard to paint a dedicately deserving agency in this email.
Instead of hiring $100,000 judges and other similarly over paid uneeded employees...Why not try hiring $30,000 adjudicators?
Thanks for the suggestion. I believe that's the first time we have heard "get rid of all the people making of $100,000".
You are very welcome.
I wonder if the hiring freeze will affect ALJ hiring this month.
Hey "get rid of all the people making of $100,000" person, why don't you tell us what you do so we can decide if you are worth your salary. Obviously your not in the creative writing field because you same the same thing every time on every post.
in Indiana they have consolidated the offices and it does more harm then good. it takes us 45 minutes to an hour to get to the nearest office. i am lucky we have a way to go but most people dont and the online services are not much help.
Does anyone know if this freeze will affect the hiring for the ALJ's and staff for the new hearing offices set to open this year? Thank you!
Someone posted earlier that the hearing offices need to be opened this FY or SSA will lose the funding, so I do not think so. Also, in a lot of cases, HODs and GSs and some staff have already been hired and are already in training, even though the new offices are not yet opened. The new candidates for ALJs have completed all of the interviewing process and are awaiting offers right now.
thank you for the response!
For the people wondering about the new HOs, ALJ and support staff hiring, please note that the freeze he imposes immediately is only on "staff" components. Operating components (ODAR, e.g.) are not included; beginning 10/1, they will be limited to hiring replacement staff only, if the CR is indeed in effect at that point.
This follows an early-out retirement offering, which will reduce SSA staffing even further. SSA is in catastrophic failure mode. My FO is a complete shambles with no improvement in sight. Newly-entitled beneficiaries are not being paid correctly, if at all, and Obamacare is totally irrelevant to the majority of SSA/SSI recipients.
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