Mar 21, 2013

CR Doesn't Cut Any Breaks For Social Security

     The Senate has passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will fund government operations through the rest of the fiscal year, subject to the sequestration. It is likely to be adopted by the House of Representatives intact. Here are the provisions relevant to Social Security, which I won't even try to interpret other than to say it seems clear to me that the agency didn't catch any breaks:
SEC. 1517. Notwithstanding section 1101, the level for ‘‘Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Income Program’’ for research and demonstrations under sections 1110, 1115, and 1144 of the Social Security Act shall be $17,000,000.
SEC. 1518. Of the funds made available by section 1101 for ‘‘Social Security Administration, Limitation on Administrative Expenses’’, $23,000,000 shall be for section 1149 of the Social Security Act and $7,000,000 shall be for section 1150 of the Social Security Act.
SEC. 1519. Of the funds made available by section 1101 for ‘‘Social Security Administration, Limitation on Administrative Expenses’’ for the cost associated with continuing disability reviews under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act and for the cost associated with conducting redeterminations of eligibility under title XVI of the Social Security Act, $273,000,000 is provided to meet the terms of section 251(b)(2)(B)(ii)(III) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, and $483,052,000 is additional new budget authority specified for purposes of section 251(b)(2)(B) of such Act. ...
SEC. 3004. (a) If, for fiscal year 2013, the amount of new budget authority provided in appropriation Acts exceeds the discretionary spending limits set forth in section 251(c)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act on new budget authority for any category due to estimating differences with the Congressional Budget Office, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall increase the applicable percentage in subsection (c) with respect to that category by such amount as is necessary to eliminate the amount of the excess in that category. ...
     (c) For purposes of subsection (b), the applicable percentage shall be—
          (1) for budget authority in the nonsecurity category (as defined in section 250(c)(4)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985), 0 percent; ...
(e) This section shall not apply to— ...
       (2) the amount made available by division C of this Act for ‘‘Social Security Administration, Limitation on Administrative Expenses’’ for continuing disability reviews under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act and for the cost associated with conducting redeterminations of eligibility under title XVI of the Social Security Act.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Looks like SSA is being given extra money for CDRs, which it will likely find a way to utilize elsewhere instead of actually doing more CDRs.