Congressional Three Ring Circus On Thursday

There will be two Congressional hearings and one appropriations markup session affecting Social Security on Thursday, June 21. The hearings, but not the markup session, should be available in live streaming video. Here is the list:

• 10:00 Social Security Subcommittee of House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on Protecting the Privacy of the Social Security Number From Identity Theft
• 10:00 Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Barriers to Work for Individuals Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits
• 2:00 Senate Appropriations Committee markup of appropriations bill including Social Security

Disappointing Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Report

From a press release issued by the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee:

Social Security Administration (SSA) -- $9.7 billion is included for the administrative expenses of the SSA, $125 million over the President􀂶s budget request and $426.38 million more than FY 2007, to ensure that the backlog of disability claims will decrease, as opposed to increase as assumed under the budget request. Within the recommendation, $476.97 million is dedicated to program integrity activities, including disability reviews. SSA reviews current disability cases to ensure beneficiaries remain eligible for Social Security. As a result of those reviews, some beneficiaries are found to be no longer eligible for benefits - for example, their situation may have improved such that they could return to work. If so, there are savings to the Social Security trust funds and estimates show that for every dollar spent on these activities, SSA saves $7 for redeterminations of eligibility reviews and $10 for continuing disability reviews.

We had been hoping for about $400 million over the President's recommended budget. Basically, this budget will do little more than keep things from getting worse. Michael Astrue seems to have been successful so far in his efforts to keep his agency's budget down.

Witnesses For House Social Security Subcommittee Hearing

The House Social Security Subcommittee has announced the following witness list for its hearing on June 21 on "Protecting the Privacy of the Social Security Number from Identity Theft":

The Honorable Ed Markey, a Representative in Congress from the State of Massachusetts

The Honorable Patrick O’Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration

Joel Winston, Director, Division of Privacy and Information Protection, Federal Trade Commission

Dan Bertoni, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, Government Accountability Office

Justin Yurek, President, ID Watchdog, Denver, Colorado<

Stuart Pratt, President, Consumer Data Industry Association

James D. Gingerich, Director, Administrative Office of the Courts, Supreme Court of Arkansas, on behalf of the National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, Virginia

Annie I. Antón, Associate Professor of Software Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, on behalf of the Association for Computing Machinery

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center

Gilbert T. Schwartz, Partner, Schwartz & Ballen LLP, on behalf of the Financial Services Coordinating Council

Amazing Claim

From the Senior Journal:

The immigration bill being debated by the Senate would allow over two million illegal workers who received Social Security numbers prior to 2004 to receive more than $966 billion in Social Security benefits by 2040, according to the TREA Senior Citizens League.

How did they come up with that figure, which is almost half a million dollars per illegal immigrant? And how much will those illegal immigrants pay into the Social Security trust funds? There are probably many good reasons to support or oppose this immigration bill, but its effects on the Social Security trust funds is not one of them.

Sacramento Woman Accused Of Fraud

The Sacramento Bee reports that Valerie Jean Rogers has been charged with submitting false information to obtain almost $35,000 in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) over seven years.

No HALLEX Update In A Year

I do not know what this means, perhaps nothing, but Social Security's Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law Manual, known as HALLEX has not been updated in more than a year. Actually, there was a trivial update in January 2007, but it was so minor that it is not even listed as an update. Perhaps, it is just a sign of a hiatus in policy development with Commissioner Barnhart heading out the door and Commissioner Astrue still trying to get up to speed.

Ripoff Artists

Take a look at this scam and this one. I will save some folks the money. Here is the same thing for free.

Another Field Office To Close

Social Security is closing its Slidell, Lousiana field office, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune.