Utah Incident

From The Salt Lake City Tribune:

Police in Provo say a motorist steered her car into the offices of the Social Security Administration

The crash happened about 4:30 a.m. Friday at the Social Security office at 491 N. 500 West.

The car backed through the front doors, crashing into furniture and interior walls, police said. Officers found the 45-year-old driver unconscious in the car.

Police said the damage may have been intentional and the motorist was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Officers took her to a hospital for evaluation then booked her into the Utah county jail on suspicion of criminal mischief and driving under the influence.

National Law Journal On ALJ Lawsuit

I saw this link on the CONNECT Board. The National Law Journal has an article about the Association of Administrative Law Judges lawsuit about the process for hiring more ALJs. Here are a couple of excerpts:

For the first time in nearly a decade, the executive branch this past spring opened a register to applications for administrative law judge positions. Within three days of posting the announcement on the government jobs Web site, the opening closed, having drawn a targeted 1,250 applicants. Was it long pent-up demand or something not quite proper that prompted the application onslaught?

The latter, charges the Association of Administrative Law Judges, a union of ALJs, in a federal lawsuit filed this summer. The suit contends one or more federal agencies received advance notice of the vacancy announcement and shared that information with its own attorneys, and, as a result, those agency attorneys received preferential treatment over other qualified attorneys in private practice. Association of Administrative Law Judges v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, No. 07-0711. ...

"There is a sense of antagonism between [the Office of Personnel Management] and ALJs, at least from the ALJs' view," said a longtime ALJ. "They see an institution historically required to manage and protect ALJs, which now is really doing neither or not doing it very well."

Fraud Allegation In Montana

From MontanasNewsStation.com:

A Clyde Park woman is accused of lying to get Social Security benefits for 18 years. Sandra Bowman pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges. ...

The indictment says Bowman falsely claimed she lived alone, or only with her child, when she was living with her common-law husband or boyfriend.

It also alleges Bowman claimed that no other person paid for her food, rent, taxes and utilities, when her boyfriend paid some or all of the bills, the indictment alleges.

Social Security Bulletin Released

The Social Security Administration has released the latest edition of the Social Security Bulletin. The Social Security Bulletin mostly contains statistical information and articles about statistical research on Social Security issues.

Totalization Agreement With Denmark Not Drawing Controversy

The United States and Denmark have signed a Social Security totalization agreement, according to an announcement from the U.S. Social Security Administration. The press announcement on this touts the fact that the agreement will eliminate double taxation, but it also allows workers to combine wage credits from both countries to obtain Social Security benefits.

Note that this totalization agreement is totally non-controversial, while the totalization agreement with Mexico has been totally controversial. Critics of the agreement with Mexico would point to the large number of Mexican citizens in the United States illegally as the reason for the different reception of the two agreements. Critics of those critics would point to the differences in skin hue between citizens of Denmark and Mexico as being the real reason. However, the two agreements are quite similar. If one objects vehemently to the agreement with Mexico, one should also object vehemently to the agreement with Denmark.

Monthly Social Security Stats

Social Security has issued its monthly statistical summary for Title II and Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

Interim Policy On EAJA Payments

Eric Schnaufer has been kind enough to post elsewhere a document that states the position of Social Security's Office of General Counsel (at least for the 4th Circuit area) on payment issues under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Claimants may obtain reimbursement for their attorney fees under EAJA for federal court cases in which they prevail. There have recently been serious issues about how EAJA fees are paid that have caused confusion and irritation to attorneys who represent Social Security claimants in federal court.

Bill Aims To Improve Customer Service

From a Social Security Legislative Bulletin:

House Passes H.R. 404, “ Federal Customer Service Enhancement Act ”

On July 23, 2007, the House passed H.R. 404, the Federal Customer Service Enhancement Act. On July 24, 2007, the bill was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Among other provisions, the legislation would require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal agencies, including SSA.

Upon enactment, the House-passed bill would:

• Require the Comptroller General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to jointly develop performance measures and standards to determine whether Federal agencies are providing high quality customer service;

• Require the head of each Federal agency to collect information from its customers regarding the quality of its services and to include such information in the agency's Performance and Accountability Report;

• Direct the head of each Federal agency to assign an employee to be the customer relations representative of the agency;

• Require each Federal agency to include its address and phone number on any agency stationery. In the case of correspondence originating from a regional or local office, the agency would be required to include the address and phone number of the regional or local office on the stationery; and

• Require the Comptroller General to report on each agency's customer service performance no later than two years after enactment. The report could be used by Congress as well as the Director of OMB to update performance measures for customer service. Compliance with customer service standards would, to the extent practicable, be an element of each agency's performance appraisal system.