Dec 20, 2024
Dec 19, 2024
WEP/GPO Bill Advances While Government Shutdown Looms
The Hill reports that the bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset passed a crucial vote in the Senate yesterday 73-27. This isn’t final passage but the margin suggests that the bill is likely to pass. It has already been passed the House of Representatives.
In other legislative news, President-elect Trump seems to be ordering a government shutdown. At least he’s ordering Republican legislators not to vote for the Continuing Resolution they just negotiated with Democrats. The GOP can’t pass the CR without Democratic votes in this Congress and probably not in the next. Most of Social Security will stay open if the shutdown happens beginning December 20 but there would be no money to continue paying salaries for long. I have no idea what the endgame is here.
If you voted for Trump, this is the chaos you voted for.
Dec 18, 2024
CR Contains Nothing For Social Security
The text of the Continuing Resolution to prevent a government shutdown is out. I see no additional funding for Social Security operations, not that I was expecting any.
WEP/GPO Bill Expected To.Reach Senate Floor Today
The bill to end the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which has already passed the House of Representatives, is expected to reach the Senate floor today.
Regulations Advance
Two non-controversial regulatory packages have moved forward. The Use of Electronic Payroll Data To Improve Program Administration package has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget for publication as final regs. Final rules on Availability of Information and Records to the Public, concerning Freedom of Information Act requests have been published in the Federal Register today.
Dec 17, 2024
Honor For Social Security Foremother
From a press release:
Today [December 16] President Biden will sign a proclamation establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, to honor the historic contributions of America’s first woman Cabinet Secretary and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor.
Frances Perkins was the leading architect behind the New Deal and led many labor and economic reforms that continue to benefit Americans today. During her 12 years as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she envisioned and helped create Social Security ...
Frances Perkins deserves more credit for the creation of Social Security than anyone else.
Dec 16, 2024
Crunch Time For Continuing Resolution
From Newsweek:
Customer services from the Social Security Administration (SSA) could be subject to delays in 2025 if [no additional] funding is agreed on by lawmakers before the end of the year.
The government agency was forced to implement a hiring freeze in November after Congress denied additional funding for the SSA in its September continuing resolution. ...
However, in September, House Republicans blocked what is known as a budget anomaly request by the Biden administration for an increase in the SSA's current 2024 annual funding level... . With a December 20 deadline set for another stopgap government funding bill, it remains to be seen whether the same request will be granted to fund the agency through to March 2025. ...
SSA spokesperson Mark Hinkle told news outlet Government Executive that, without the funding, the agency is being forced to "operate conservatively."
"We have been forced to restrict hiring to critical targeted areas and will not be able to invest in new information technology development," Hinkle said.
"In addition, we have reduced overtime to historically low levels and essentially have no overtime to serve the customers who are waiting in our lobbies late in the day or to clear workloads that we are unable to get to during core hours of operations." ...
The deadline for the next continuing resolution is December 20.
Dec 15, 2024
Dec 14, 2024
Uneven Benefits Of Education In Reducing Disability
From Educated but on Social Security Disability Insurance: Minorities’ Diminished Returns by Shervin Assari, Babak Najand, Hossein Zare and Amanda Sonnega:
... The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between educational attainment (measured in years of schooling) and the likelihood of receiving SSDI, with a specific focus on exploring how this relationship varies by race and ethnicity ...
Higher educational attainment was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of receiving SSDI in the overall sample. However, consistent with the MDRs framework, the protective effect of education was significantly weaker for both Black and Latino individuals compared to non-Latino Whites. Black and Latino participants with similar levels of education as their non-Latino White counterparts were more likely to receive SSDI, reflecting diminished returns on educational attainment for these groups. ...
Dec 13, 2024
New 1696 Asks For Info On Kids -- Why?
Above is a part of the new form SSA-1696 used to appoint a person as a Social Security claimant's attorney. Notice that it asks for the names of Social Security numbers of the claimant's dependents. This was not required in the past.
Obtaining this information isn't as easy as one might thing. Parents don't have the Social Security numbers of their children handy. Fathers who are estranged from the mothers of their children may find it impossible to come up with the Social Security numbers. Social Security itself isn't trying to gather the Social Security numbers of dependents at the time a claim is filed.
What's the point of this? Does Social Security want to play a gotcha game, refusing to pay a fee on dependent benefits unless the name and Social Security number are listed properly?
Dec 12, 2024
Senate Vote Coming On WEP-GPO Bill
Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, has promised that there will be a vote on the bill to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offsets which reduce Social Security benefits for those receiving pension benefits not based upon earnings upon which there had been no FICA withheld. This is mostly former employees of state and local governments which did not pay the FICA tax. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives.
Dec 11, 2024
How Do You Pronounce Bisignano?
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