Despondence And Anxiety Grow, But Social Security Central Offices Do Not Seem To Care

Some excerpts from the minutes of a January 17, 2008 conference call of the Executive Committee of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel:

The state of field offices was a hot topic of discussion. Conference call participants weighed in with comments about the impact our resource shortage is having on the Field Offices and the Teleservice Centers [TSC]. Field/TSC employee morale is at an all time low and the number of employees retiring is growing. Employees do not feel supported by the agency, and so are more prone to retire as soon as they can. Many have over 30 years of service but are at the end of their ropes because there is no hope in sight. ... Some of the regions expressed the concern that new hires seem to be targeted for urban offices with little done for suburban or rural offices. New managers are overwhelmed with the decreased staff and increased workloads. Managers are increasingly involved in processing direct service workloads and tabling traditional management activities as they have no other way to provide the public service. Rising expectations from area, regional and national components to clear work are unrelenting, with new reports, listings and additional workloads being piled on field office employees. The pain needs to be felt by other components including ADO [Area Director's Offices] and regional employees. There is a sense of doom – Field Offices are being left to wither without any assistance. ... With the usual dedication, employees have been very creative in their approaches to handling staffing losses with all pitching in across the board and doing the best they can. Maybe it is time that we quit trying to prove that we can do the same amount of work, or even more, with fewer resources. The despondency and anxiety in the field and TSCs continue to grow, but our staffing losses do not seem to concern Central Office.

Time Crunch?

On January 29 Michael Astrue sent a letter to Congress indicating that he was suspending regulatory proceedings on the proposal for major procedural changes at Social Security. Those changes would have required all evidence to be submitted at least five days before a hearing, would have eliminated reopening of Administrative Law Judge decisions on account of new and material evidence and would have made all remands for closed periods only. Astrue said in the letter that he would have a new notice placed in the Federal Register asking public comment on some questions related to the proposal and that his agency would then publish a new proposal in the Federal Register.

If Michael Astrue wants to get some new procedural regulations, his agency is going to have to work fast. He cannot publish much of anything in the Federal Register without approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which is part of the White House. That takes time. I think this request for comments would require OMB approval, although I am not certain of that. He has not submitted the request for comments to OMB. Probably, he will have to allow 60 days for comments once he does. After that, his agency has to draft new proposed regulations and submit them to OMB for approval. Those proposed regulations must be published in the Federal Register with sixty days for comments. The comments must be reviewed and the agency must finalize the regulations and get OMB approval before publishing final regulations. All of this takes time.

The question is whether this can be accomplished before time runs out. When will time run out? It will certainly run out on inauguration day if a Democrat is elected President this November. It may run out even if John McCain is elected President. It may run out as soon as election day, since most agencies prefer not to adopt new regulations of any consequence in the interregnum between a new President being elected and taking office. In fact, time may run out as early as Labor Day, since after that the Presidential campaign is in full swing, agencies typically do not want to do anything controversial. Even if Astrue wants to push this through, he will have to deal with the fact that OMB will start running down by early this fall, as political appointees leave their jobs and everyone become distracted by the upcoming transition.

Is it already too late for Astrue to do something with this before it gets swamped by the election and its aftermath? Probably not, but he would have to move fast and there is no sign of rapid movement.

Bristol Office To Stay Open

From a press release issued by Congressman John Larson:

Connecticut Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) are thrilled to announce that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has decided to keep the Bristol field office open for at least another year. The SSA had threatened to close the office last year, sending thousands of local seniors to New Britain for their Social Security needs. During the year, the SSA will continue to review the need for the Bristol office.

The Social Security Administration cited in letters to the Congressional delegation today, that adequate funding for 2008 is one of the key reasons they will keep the office open. The entire delegation fought to increase funding for the SSA in appropriations legislation so that it could better serve the people of Connecticut and the entire country.

Budget Markup Coming Tomorrow

The House Budget Committee will be marking up its version of the concurrent budget resolution for fiscal year 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008, on March 5. The concurrent budget resolution does not give any agency any money. The appropriations bills do that. The budget resolution sets general guidelines for the appropriations process. A markup session is an opportunity for committee members to propose changes in the budget resolution, but that begs the question of what the Budget Committee will use as a starting point. We can expect to see a "chairman's mark," a version of the budget resolution prepared by the House Budget Committee chairman, John Spratt, to use as a starting point for the markup session.

Mayors Want Investigation

From the Valley Independent of Pennsylvania:

A group of Mon Valley mayors has demanded an investigation into the decision to move the Social Security office from Charleroi to Rostraver Township.

In a letter to U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, 11 mayors agree that relocation to WillowPointe Plaza, off Route 51, will create a "huge hardship" on senior citizens. ...

"As the political leaders of our communities, we are very concerned about GSA's decision to relocate the Mon Valley Social Security office to WillowPointe. This location is not accessible to our constituents," the letter stated.

Attorney Advisor Rules Adopted Without Change

The Social Security Administration published final rules for the program that allows some attorney advisors employed by the agency to issue fully favorable decisions after claimants request a hearing. Previously, the program had been operating under interim rules.

Putting It In Perspective

Nobel Economics Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, quoted in Mother Jones: "For somewhere between a half and quarter of the cost of the war in Iraq you could have fixed all the problems associated with Social Security for the next 75 years and still have had a lot left over."

Another View On The Backlogs

From an article in Government Executive on the February 28 House Appropriations Committee hearing:

Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., questioned whether SSA was creating an incentive for most claimants to appeal state-level denials for disability benefits, increasing the caseloads for judges. Weldon pointed to the fact that they award disability benefits in 62 percent of the appeals they hear. "We've created an industry to appeal these claims," Weldon said. "Are we feeding a monster?"

What Were They Thinking?

From the March 2008 issue of Unity, the newsletter of Council 220 of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 25,000 employees of the Social Security Administration:

A plan to charge $15.00 for each Social Security benefit verification came to an immediate halt recently when Union officials learned about the idea. A sign had been placed on the front door of the Foothill branch office in Oakland, Calif. It stated the fee would take effect in January, but Health and Safety Representa-tive Howard Egerman saw the no-tice and reported it to other Union members. Unfortunately by that time the practice had become widespread and signs had been posted in offices around the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

Dana Duggins, the third Vice President of AFGE Council 220, soon learned about the scheme and immediately wrote to SSA Com-missioner Michael Astrue.

“Before you knew it, the signs had come down,” Duggins said, “but I’d still like to know who put them up in the first place and whether anyone was ever charged. If they were, it was an illegal practice that has to be dealt with and those claimants surely have to be reimbursed.”

The agency’s own regulations state benefit verifications will be provided free to the public, and Duggins says that raises two other questions.

Radio Interview With Linda Fullerton

Linda Fullerton, the founder of the Social Security Disability Coalition, an organization of Social Security disability claimants, was interviewed for the Disability News and Views radio show. You can listen to the interview online.