Appropriation Framework Agreed To

      There's now an announced framework for appropriations bills for this fiscal year. This means that Social Security will get an appropriation for this fiscal year. That's a big deal for everybody concerned with Social Security. Employees get overtime and the hope of some relief from the mountains of work hanging over their heads. Claimants and their attorneys get some improvements in service, perhaps from unimaginably bad to terribly bad. No one should hope for too much relief. The agency may need a 20% increase in its appropriation and that's not coming.

     We don't know the details of the agreement. We do know that Democrats had wanted much bigger appropriations for domestic agencies than for defense agencies. Republicans had demanded equal improvements for appropriations across domestic and defense.

     The continuing resolution that's making its way to the President's desk right now runs through March 11. Expect action on the appropriations bill that includes Social Security (the Labor-HHS bill) not much before that date. The Labor-HHS appropriation bill is usually the most complicated and controversial of the appropriations bills. This framework agreement only takes things so far.