More Personnel Changes

The information below was posted on the CONNECT board. It appears to be an e-mail sent to Social Security personnel. I am unable to evaluate what this might mean on a policy basis. I can say that it is a major promotion for Andrew Biggs, whose nomination to become Deputy Commissioner at Social Security was recently rejected by the Senate. Biggs is a huge proponent of Social Security privatization. There has been no previous sign that Biggs has any real interest in the day to day policy issues faced by Social Security, particularly in the area of Social Security's disability programs. The information about Jim Winn leaving the Disability Review Board (DRB) to return to his old job suggests that the DRB may not be around much longer.

The following Senior Executive Service assignments are effective immediately:

In the Office of the Commissioner, Office of Executive Operations, David A. Rust will be appointed as the Executive Secretary. David previously served as the Agency’s Associate Commissioner for Disability and has been with the Department of Agriculture since he left SSA in 1989.

In the Office of Policy, Andrew Biggs will be appointed as the Deputy Commissioner for Policy. In addition to his new assignment and to ensure continuity within the organization, Dr. Biggs will continue in his former capacity as the Acting Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy until I name a replacement. Larry Love will resume his full-time responsibilities as Counselor to the Commissioner.

Manny Vaz, Regional Commissioner in Boston, will replace Martin Gerry as Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs on an Acting basis for the next several months. During this interim period, Susan Harding will serve as the Acting Regional Commissioner in Boston.

Jim Winn, Associate General Counsel for Program Law, who most recently has been serving as the Acting Executive Director for the Disability Review Board, will return to his position in the Office of the General Counsel.

DSI Prospects Poll

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More Job Openings In Woodlawn

This may be coincidental, but there are now job openings at Social Security's central offices in Woodlawn, MD for Associate Commissioner for Research, Evaluation and Statistics and Deputy Associate Commissioner for Personnel. Some of this may be ordinary turnover, but it sounds as if the new Commissioner is making personnel changes.

What I would wonder about if I worked in Woodlawn is whether Larry Dye's new role as Social Security's Liaison to the White House is to pack Social Security with Bush loyalists. If so, there may be little job security at the upper reaches of Social Security.

Results Of Last Week's Unscientific Poll

How do you rate the job that Jo Anne Barnhart did as Commissioner of Social Security?

Excellent (32) 21%
Good (26) 17%
Fair (39) 26%
Poor (53) 35%

Total Votes: 150

Gerry Gone?

There is a report on the CONNECT board that Martin Gerry is leaving his current position as Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs. The surprise may be that he tried to continue in this position after Jo Anne Barnhart's term as Commissioner of Social Security ended. Gerry was brought in by Barnhart and appeared to be her right hand man. With a new Commissioner who appears to be unimpressed with the Disability Service Improvement (DSI) plan championed by Barnhart and Gerry, it has seemed unlikely for at least a month that Gerry could survive in such a prominent position for long.

An Image From 1968

FOIA Amendments Pending

Congress is taking action on the many problems that have arisen over the years with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Many agencies are essentially stonewalling the public with lengthy delays in responding to FOIA requests. Social Security may not be the worst offender, but it has had its moments. Two problems that come to mind are Social Security's refusal to provide statistics showing the reversal rates of individual Administrative Law Judges by name and Social Security's assertion that it could not find any report on the experiments it did in the past on dispensing with Appeals Council review.

The bill that has made the most progress is H.R. 1309, which has been reported out of Committee in the House of Representatives. Here is a link to the Committee report.

NAMI And ARC And Disability Policy Collaboration On Social Security Budget

Nearly identical press releases from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) and Disability Policy Collaboration:

People with mental illness who apply for Social Security disability benefits (SSDI) or for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are currently waiting longer and longer for decisions on eligibility. This is especially the case for claimants that are forced to file appeals to overturn a denial of benefits to which they are entitled.

As revealed in Congressional hearings and news articles, some people have lost their homes and families while they wait for decisions. Others use up all their resources and cannot afford critical medications and treatments, resulting in increased disability and even death. In some places, the wait is almost 900 days, or almost two and one-half more years!

Insufficient funding has also resulted in other reduced services, including delays in processing earnings reports and the inability to respond to reports of lost checks or answer questions from beneficiaries or the public.

The problem has reached crisis proportions and will continue to get worse for people with disabilities. The President’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2008 indicates that average waiting times will continue to grow, even if the Social Security Administration (SSA) is funded at the level of his request ($9.6 billion).

The solution is simple: the SSA must be given enough funding to get disability decisions made in a timely manner. As required by law, the Commissioner of Social Security submitted a budget request separate from the President’s request. This request indicates that the agency needs $10.44 billion in administrative funding for FY 2008 for its administrative expenses, known as SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE). This is almost $1 billion more than the President requested.

Action on the FY 2008 budget has already begun. If SSA is going to receive the funds it needs to reduce the backlogs of disability decisions and improve other services, it is imperative that the House and Senate Budget Committees include enough funding for SSA in the FY 2008 Budget Resolution. The House and Senate Budget Committees will mark up their Budget Resolutions in early to mid March.

Action Needed

Contact your representatives in the House and Senate and urge them to contact the leadership of the House and Senate Budget Committees to encourage them to authorize additional resources for the Social Security Administration (SSA) under the Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE). This funding is vital to reducing the backlog of Social Security claims and speeding up response time.

It is important that every Member of Congress urge the Chairman of their respective Budget Committee to include sufficient funding in the Budget Resolution to appropriate funds for SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses at the level requested by the Commissioner of SSA: $10.44 billion for FY 2008.