Social Security is closing remote hearing sites all over the country but one is reopening. This one happens to be in Great Falls, Montana. Why would it be reopening? Max Baucus is the senior Senator from Montana. He's also chairman of the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over the Social Security Administration. The Committee just happened to have had an oversight hearing on Social Security yesterday. There might be some connection there.
A spokesman for a Republican candidate running for the other Senate seat in Montana responded to this development by saying "Let's not forget this was a government-created problem" and that the closing of the remote hearing site "reflects a bias against rural states" under the Obama administration.
A spokesman for a Republican candidate running for the other Senate seat in Montana responded to this development by saying "Let's not forget this was a government-created problem" and that the closing of the remote hearing site "reflects a bias against rural states" under the Obama administration.
The agency closed a temporary remote hearing site, where hearings were held in a hotel room, and is replacing it with a video-only room co-located with the field office. Eventually, a permanent remote site will be opened to allow face to face hearings so that claimants don't have to drive over 4 hours to Billings for one.
ReplyDeleteCome on, Charles, everything doesn't have to be a grand conspiracy!
There is a rural state bias. I think "against" is the wrong word though...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/states-federal-taxes-spending-charts-maps
A permanent remote site is simply a video hearing room, not for face-to-face hearings. This is a minor concession, and yes, politics play a role.
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