Senate Letter On Social Security Funding

The Federal Times has now posted a copy of the letter signed by 54 senators, 12 of them Republicans and 42 of them Democrats demanding more funding for the Social Security Administration.

This raises the question. Should Social Security continue its hiring freeze? Commissioner Barnhart put a hiring freeze into effect because of fear that the agency would be stuck with the draconian budget put forward by the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives during the current Congress. It is now clear that no FY 2007 budget will be adopted for the agency during the current Congress. With Democrats in the majority in both houses of Congress when a budget is finally passed next year, it seems fairly clear that nothing like the draconian budget reported out of committee in the House this year will be adopted.

Senators Press For Adequate Funding For Social Security

This is from a November 22, 2006 press release:

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) urged Senate Majority and Minority Leaders and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide additional funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA) budget in the final fiscal year 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. The Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Labor- HHS Appropriations bill in July of this year to provide $9.1 billion to the SSA for administrative expenses, $401 million less than the President’s budget request and $54 million below the FY 2006 appropriated level.

The impact of a 2007 budget shortfall could potentially require the Social Security Administration to layoff staff throughout the country, causing delays in service for Social Security recipients and impacting services to Medicare beneficiaries.

“This Social Security Administration funding shortfall could disrupt those essential services provided to millions of Americans and Mainers at a time when we can ill afford to leave Social Security recipients out in the cold,” Snowe said. “Our seniors need to have certainty – they need to know that if they have problems with their Social Security or Medicare benefits that the resources are available to fix the problem. If we under fund the administrative budget of the SSA then we will see longer waits and greater confusions for people across the country. I believe this shortfall must be closed when the Senate takes up this funding bill and I urge the bipartisan leadership in the Senate to find the funding to close this gap. At a time when hundreds of thousands of Baby Boomers are retiring, these budget cuts are wrong headed and irresponsible.”

Senator Snowe and Senator Conrad, joined by more than 50 Senators, sent the following letter to the bipartisan Senate Leadership.

India And US Negotiating Social Security Agreement

Rediff India Abroad reports that India is attempting to negotiate a Social Security agreement with the United States so that Indians temporarily working in the U.S. do not have to pay U.S. Social Security taxes.

So You Think We Have Social Security Problems In The U.S.?

The People's Daily Online reports that about $900 million has been misappropriated from China's Social Security system. Some of it went directly into private bank accounts. Other funds were illegally invested.

Washington Post On Social Security Staffing Problems And Medicare

From Stephen Barr's column in the Washington Post:

Staffing problems at the Social Security Administration could make it difficult for field offices to handle increased telephone calls and visits prompted by an upcoming increase in Medicare premiums, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Social Security began mailing notices of the higher, income-based premiums on Monday and expects all 1.6 million affected enrollees to have them in hand by the end of next week. Enrollees may request a recalculation of their premium if they think incorrect tax data have been used to determine their income and set their premium, or if they have recently experienced an income loss from a spouse's death, a divorce or some other "life-changing event."

In a letter sent last week to the Senate Finance Committee, the GAO warned that Social Security is coping with staff shortages and operating under a hiring freeze just as the agency's workload is expected to jump because of the premium increases. The GAO, the congressional auditing agency, noted that the premium change, though approved by Congress in 2003, may come as a surprise to some beneficiaries.

Mark Lassiter, a Social Security spokesman, said the agency plans to shift workloads among field offices if some offices "are getting disproportionately hit" by telephone calls and visits from Medicare beneficiaries.

He expressed confidence that the agency's 1,300 field offices will be able to handle any surge in work. "We do the work we are assigned to get done," he said. ...

The GAO said implementing income-based premiums will cost Social Security an additional $200 million in administrative expenses between fiscal 2006 and 2010.

The extra work comes at a tough time for the agency. Social Security has adopted a hiring freeze because Congress has not been able to complete work on the agency's fiscal 2007 appropriations bill. Agency officials also have warned that it could be forced next year to send employees home without pay, perhaps for as long as 10 days, if Congress does not reverse proposed budget cuts.

Here is a link to the GAO report.

A Year Old

This blog is one year old on this Thanksgiving day. There are now about 600 posts on this blog. As of this morning, Social Security News has been accessed 65,574 times.

I had long felt that what was needed was a better flow of information to all involved with Social Security. With the dramatic growth of the internet, more and more information has become available, yet no one was making a systematic effort to draw it together. I hope that this blog has helped in making information available more freely to everyone with an interest in Social Security matters. I have tried to stick mostly to the "Social Security News" title, by giving news primarily. Certainly, I have offered some opinions as well.

I have been asked a number of times why I do not allow those reading this blog to post comments. Your comments would be interesting, but deleting or editing inappropriate comments would be time consuming. I still have to earn a living as a Social Security attorney. I would be happy to hear comments by e-mail, however. My e-mail address is normall charles[at]charleshallfirm.com, but there could be some technical problems with that e-mail address until Monday or Tuesday of next week because of a recent office move. For now, comments may be sent to me at my home e-mail address: hallcity[at]nc.rr.com.

Georgia Couple Found Guilty Of Fraud

WGCL-TV reports that a Milledgeville, GA couple have been found guilty of fraud on the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration because the husband claimed and received disability benefits from both agencies for post traumatic stress disorder related to combat in Viet Nam, when the man had not seen combat in Viet Nam. It is not clear from the article what crime the wife was charged with.

No Congressional Action On SSA Appropriation

The House and Senate are now in recess until December 5. The Library of Congress Thomas site shows that no final action has been taken in either body on the Fiscal Year 2007 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriation Bill, which includes Social Security. There will be only a short Congressional session after the Thanksgiving recess before this Congress adjourns sine die. Republicans have already decided not to try to pass the spending bills according to the Associated Press, leaving Social Security operating off a continuing funding resolution until after the new Congress, controlled by Democrats, convenes.