Bats Out

      The Greensboro, NC field office that was closed due to a bat infestation, has reopened. Apparently, there were only two bats involved.

Call Critter Control

      The Greensboro, NC Social Security field office has been closed due to a bat infestation. No word on when the office will reopen.

That’s A Long List

      From the Washington Examiner:

Some Social Security offices are closed or limiting in-person services across 12 states, potentially delaying access to benefits and other services. According to the Social Security Administration’s emergency operations webpage, the SSA has temporarily closed or shifted several field offices to phone-only service. …

Offices in Yuma, Arizona; Mission Viejo, California; Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Wailuku, Hawaii; Decorah, Iowa; Elizabethtown, Kentucky; Detroit College Park, Michigan; Glasgow and Havre, Montana; Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania; Del Rio, Texas; and Logan, West Virginia, are operating on a phone-only basis. …

    That’s way more than can be explained by ordinary office repair type issues. I have to guess it’s lack of staff in most cases.

Threat To Understaffed Field Offices

     From Government Executive: 

Officials with the nation’s largest federal employee union on Friday raised concerns that a 2024 law enabling the General Services Administration to offload federal property based on low occupancy rates could mistakenly target busy Social Security Administration field offices for closure.  

In recent months, SSA has implemented a “badge in/badge out” system for measuring how many employees work at the agency’s various offices around the country. That’s part of the federal government’s broader effort to implement the provisions of the 2024 Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act—USE IT, for short. The USE IT Act requires federal agencies track the occupancy rates of their various buildings, with a goal of at least 60% occupancy. If a particular office consistently fails to hit that threshold, GSA is empowered to take steps to shrink that agency’s physical footprint. …  

AFGE Council 220 President Jessica LaPointe, whose union represents field office and teleservice center employees, told Government Executive that basing whether or not to offload an office solely on employee occupancy data could have unintended consequences at an understaffed agency like SSA. Without additional data, such as non-employee foot traffic or customer demand, a busy but understaffed could be erroneously targeted for closure. …

Office Closures

      From Newsweek:

 Several Social Security offices have been closed today amid the larger government shutdown. ...

In California, the Madera Social Security office is unable to provide in-person service until 1 p.m. local time.

Meanwhile, in Montana, the Havre office is only able to provide telephone assistance until further notice due to the shutdown.

New York is facing several disruptions, with the East Bronx location unable to provide in-person services until 10 a.m., and Canarsie and Corning locations only providing phone assistance until further notice.

The Pennsylvania office in Wilkes-Barre is only offering phone assistance on Monday, while Bloomsburg and Reading offices have generally reverted to phone service instead of any in-person options until further notice.

In South Carolina, the Spartanburg office will only be providing phone service on Monday, and the Dallas Fair Park office in Texas will be offering the same service instead of in-person capabilities.

In West Virginia, the Logan SSA office is only available by telephone.

In Wyoming, beneficiaries relying on the Cody office will need to use phone services until further notice. ...

     Some of these have to do with local conditions which might occur anytime. Some of these have to do with the reduction in staffing at Social Security. Some of these have to do with the government shutdown.  When people aren't being paid, they're not as enthusiastic about showing up for work when they're not feeling so well.  

OHO Office Closing

 

    The Social Security hearing office in White Plains, NY is closing. That's unusual. I can't remember when I've heard of an Office of Hearings Operations office closing.

Milwaukee Field Office Closed For Republican Convention

     A television station in Milwaukee reports that "The Social Security Administration field office in downtown Milwaukee will be temporarily closed to the public during the Republican National Convention – Monday, July 15 through Friday, July 19."

Almost A Caricature Of Republican Priorities

      A press release:

The Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, Gail S. Ennis, announces the addition of four new investigative units to the Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) program. CDI is a nationwide joint effort between the Social Security Administration and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to fight disability fraud and save money for taxpayers. The four investigative units recently opened offices in Omaha, Nebraska; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. ...

     Just how much fraud are you expecting to find in New Hampshire and Wyoming? Do they really need their own dedicated offices? And why are you saying this is directed at "disability fraud"? I think that most fraud cases detected at Social Security involve retirement benefits.

     Social Security is closing down field offices which provide service to the public while opening new offices to hunt for fraud even in low population areas. What does that tell us about the priorities contained in Social Security's operating budget?

Hearings To Go Ahead On Friday After Thanksgiving

     I've seen a tweet from the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) saying that any hearings scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving will go forward despite the announcement that Social Security offices will be closed to the public that day. 

     I've been practicing Social Security law for 40 years and I don't think I've ever had a hearing scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving. (I did have one scheduled for 8:30 a.m. an December 26, however, many years ago.)

Social Security Offices Closed To Public Next Friday

     I received a broadcast e-mail this morning saying that Social Security offices will be closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I assume that Social Security employees have not been given the day off however. That happened in the past when Michael Astrue was Commissioner.

Field Office Closing?

     Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer is trying to get information on rumors that the local Social Security Field Office in Decorah, IA is closing. I thought the agency promised to give advance notice about that sort of thing. Is Social Security already backsliding?

     By the way, note the weather forecast for this corner of Iowa shown on the webpage. Brrr!

Central Offices Closed By Snow

     The Social Security Administration has announced that its offices in the Baltimore and Washington area will be closed on a Wednesday because of snow.

Social Security Offices Closed On Wednesday

     As is traditional, federal offices will be closed on Wednesday, the day of the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush.
     I've been getting questions about whether Social Security will really be closed on Wednesday. The answer is definitely yes as to field offices and hearing offices. It's been so long since we've had a death of a past President that people had forgotten how this is treated.

Legislation Introduced On Field Office Closures

     From a press release:

In the wake of this year’s closure of the Mitchell Street SSA field office in Milwaukee, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) introduced H.R. 7146, the Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2018, which would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to operate a sufficient number of fully staffed field offices, as well as set up a review process for their closure.

     With Democrats in control of the House of Representatives this sort of bill could get a serious hearing. There will probably be quite a number of House Social Security Subcommittee hearings next year and they'll be very different from what we've seen over the last eight years. Sure, there have been hearings on office closures with the GOP in charge but, come on, we knew ,and Social Security knew, they weren't serious. It will be different with Democrats in charge. Yes, the Republican controlled Senate can block passage of stand alone legislation on field offices but something like this could easily get put in some must pass legislation such as an appropriations bill with enough money behind it to make it practical. Remember, there will be a lot of GOP Senators from purple states up for re-election in 2020.

Hurricane Florence Already Closing Offices

     The Social Security Administration has already closed many of its offices in North and South Carolina because of the looming threat of Hurricane Florence. Probably more office closures further North are coming. Stay tuned.

OIG Report On Milwaukee Field Office Closure

     There's been a controversy over the closure of a Social Security field office in Milwaukee. The Office of Inspector General at Social Security has done a Congressional Response Report on the situation. According to the report, advance warning of the office closure was given to local leaders. It sounds like the major reason the office was closed was the crime rate in the area.

Social Security Administration Fairness Act

     Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the "Social Security Administration Fairness Act." Here are the chief provisions of Sanders' proposed Act:

• Automatic appropriation to the Social Security Administration of an amount equal to 1.5 percent of expected annual benefits and payments administered by SSA to pay for all administrative costs incurred by SSA in fiscal years 2019 and thereafter. 
• Eliminate the 5-month waiting period for Social Security disabled worker benefits and disabled surviving spouse benefits.
• Eliminate the 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals who have become entitled for Social Security disability benefits. 
• Create a temporary moratorium on the consolidation of SSA field offices and hearings offices.

      Sanders asked the Office of the Chief Actuary at Social Security to determine what effects the proposed Act would have on the Social Security Trust Funds if enacted. The actuaries found that the proposal would not change the exhaustion date of the combined Trust Funds. That date would stay at 2034.

     This can't get passed until there's a Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress. That's unlikely to be the case next year but it's not out of the question. Whenever Democrats get the majority on both Houses of Congress, I predict there will be Social Security legislation. Sanders' proposal could easily be part of it. It's not that costly.
     While we're talking about Senator Sanders, he was able to get new staffers for Social Security field offices in Vermont.

Members Of Congress Oppose Field Office Closures

     A group of more than one hundred members of Congress have sent the President a letter asking that he stop closing Social Security field offices.

They Say You Should Write About What You Know

     From Let's Close More Social Security Field Offices by Elizabeth Bauer published by Forbes:

Social Security advocates have been sounding the alarm:  Republicans, stymied in their efforts to cut benefits in the overall Social Security program, have set their sights on the program's administrative budget, leaving frail elderly ladies travelling endlessly and waiting for hours on end for their turn in the line at the Social Security field office. ...

[V]irtually all tasks associated with Social Security Old Age benefits can be done online.  You can view your benefit statement, apply for Social Security retirement or disability benefits and Medicare, update your address or direct deposit information, and more.  Many of the Social Security applicants or recipients ... do not actually need to come to the office at all, but we're told that we can't expect the elderly to use computers so they need to have the in-person option preserved for them.  However, most retirees have family members who are able to help and of those who don't, all of the same sort of institutions (public libraries, townships, even the local VFW) that came to the aid of Obamacare "exchange" users or provide other services to the elderly, should certainly be able to help these individuals, which in turn would have the further benefit of providing a means to further connect up older Americans to the internet, whether it's e-mail or online bill-pay or other benefits. ... 

After all, certain of these tasks [applying for survivor or SSI benefits] must be done in-person at field offices (or by mail with the attendant risk of lost documents) solely due to the need to verify the authenticity of certain documents.  Perhaps this is more complex than I imagine, but it hardly seems like something that requires a Social Security specialist's skills to do; surely it would be a win-win situation for individuals to be able to have a local governmental unit verify the authenticity of the document prior to forwarding photocopies or document scans onward. ... 

SSI benefits are so complex to administer that their cost is 9% of the overall benefits paid out (compared to 0.3% for old age/survivors and 1.8% for disability), but SSI recipients, who are overwhelmingly under-65s who qualify by reason of disability, generally qualify for other state or federal benefits as well, and other agencies are already involved in providing them services, which means that closer coordination, with a focus on return to (or entry into) the workforce, could only benefit them. ...

     If I looked at her other writings I might find that Ms. Bauer has also said "Let them eat cake!"

OMB Proposals For Social Security

     From the Social Security part of government reorganization plan (page 127) recently issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the White House:

Eliminate In-Kind Support and Maintenance and the Holding Out Policy for SSI 
This proposal simplifies administration of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and reduces improper payments. The proposal eliminates the counting of In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) in lieu of a flat rate benefit reduction for adults living with other adults. The proposal also ends the intrusive and burdensome “holding out” policy, which currently reduces benefits for couples that present themselves as married to the community. 

Eliminate Services to Claimant Representatives 
This proposal would eliminate the Federal Government as the middleman in the relationship between applicants and the representatives they voluntarily hire. It would eliminate administration of fee agreements, fee petitions, and claimant representative travel. The current workload is expensive, error prone, and not SSA’s core mission. In FY 2016, SSA spent about $122 million on the activity, but collected only about $30 million (due to a statutory fee cap) to reimburse the trust funds. The $30 million collected is not currently part of SSA’s administrative resources. ... 

Eliminate SSI Dedicated Accounts 
This proposal facilitates financial independence by eliminating dedicated accounts for past-due benefits to SSI youth recipients. It also reduces the administrative burden of monitoring expenses from dedicated accounts. ... 

Additional Footprint Reduction 
SSA continues to find ways to increase real property efficiency and reduce the size of its real property portfolio. SSA will continue to co-locate offices, consolidate space while merging components, and ensure space savings when implementing telework.

     Note that none of this other than the "Footprint Reduction" can be implemented without legislation and that's not likely to happen and closing offices is certainly unpopular.