The Senate Finance Committee has released an updated version of its portion of the Build Back Better Act, the huge budget reconciliation bill that has already passed the House of Representatives. It contains two parts that affect the Social Security Administration. At the very beginning of the 1,180 document is a four week comprehensive paid leave benefit to be administered by Social Security and at the very end of the bill is extension of SSI to U.S. territories. As best one can tell, extension of SSI to the territories is uncontroversial, at least among Democrats, while paid leave is very controversial with one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin. His possible opposition is crucial since it will take every Democrat in the Senate voting for the bill to pass it.
The comprehensive paid leave part of the bill would appropriate to Social Security at addition $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year and $1.59 billion a year thereafter for administration of the benefit. §2206(b). There would be an additional half a billion for FY 2024, the year in which comprehensive paid leave would start. §2206(c). By the way, there's no additional money appropriated in the bill for the extension of SSI to the territories.
No doubt Social Security will find administration of comprehensive paid leave challenging, if it passes. The thing about this is that if this passes getting it going will become a huge priority for the Biden Administration. The Social Security Administration's current backlogs cannot be allowed to persist or it will be impossible to implement comprehensive paid leave. If it is to get this additional workload, the agency's field offices, payment centers and teleservice centers must be massively buttressed with additional staff and this can't wait until the last minute. This can't be accomplished just with overtime. The agency will need to completely clear off its current backlogs and fully train its staff. If this passes in its current form the money may be there to do that. If this bill doesn't appropriate enough, the Biden Administration will be highly motivated to find additional money. I don't know how this sounds to Social Security employees but to someone like me who's on the receiving end of the agency's services, it sounds great.
9 comments:
Creating a major new program will also require hiring a cadre of professional staff in HQ who will be capable of writing regulations, policies, and procedures to implement the legislation. Additonal attorneys will be required to review the law and proposed regs. It will require PSAs and public outreach to let folks know about this new benefit. New data exchanges will be required to obtain information from employers. We're talking lots and lots of new hires here.
These components have been subjected to a years-long hiring freeze and will need additional staffing. Folks working there are already burned out and stretched to the limit.
This is a monumental undertaking. Unless Congress and the White House are fully committed to funding the agency and this new program, it will be a disaster.
Why not have unemployment offices implement this since they have more up to date records on wages and it's similar to what they are already doing?
Why not have corporations administer and pay for this benefit...many already do. Exempt businesses of less than 20 employees. Don't like that number? Work for a larger company. I really don't see the benefit of putting this on an agency that can't adequately perform its current responsibilities.
for all the talk of getting rid of SSA they seem to always find more for it to do an nobody is going to want to inherit those programs down the road or the ancient systems.
an extra $1.5 billion wouldn't even let SSA get enough staff, etc. to properly handle its current workloads. Same budget with only $1.5 billy kicked on top to add an administer a whole new benefit???
Hear that? Off in the distance--about 2-3 years away...It's the sound of SSA operations grinding to a halt and the movement to privatize it gaining another opportunity where public feelings and [redacted] party control line up.
Hmmm seems like the perfect program to have handled by a third party contractor.
Since it is all new, it wont take 100 years of black arts knowledge to administer and could be a model program moving forward.
Horrible idea unless giving a burdened agency more work that it already can handle sounds like success. Incidentally, SSA’a antiquated systems need to be upgraded before taking on additional programs.
Hmm ..let's see let the states do it ... tried to deal w DMV's lately .. oh let's privatize it .. for free ? ... with proper staffing no one does it better than us FEDS !!!
Great, let SSA handle all the new programs. On top of knowing a little about every other rule already - DHS, IRS, county/state Medicaid, food stamps, DMV, CAPI, SSI, and on and on.
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