Bristol Field Office To Stay Open -- For Now

Will it be possible for Social Security to close any field offices? From a press release issued by Representative John Larson (CT-D):

The Social Security Administration (SSA) told the Connecticut Congressional Delegation today that it has decided to keep the Bristol office open for at least another three months while they reevaluate their decision to close it.

Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman, as well as Congressman John B. Larson CT-01, Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, have worked tirelessly with the community and Administration to keep this office open. Most recently, Lieberman and Dodd were successful in getting an amendment introduced and included in an appropriations bill [which has passed the Senate, but not the House of Representatives, much less been signed by the President] that would prohibit SSA from closing the Bristol office until they meet certain requirements.

Federal Register Alert

The Social Security Administration has posted the following notice of an item to appear in the Federal Register on Monday:

PROPOSED RULES

Organization and procedures:

Administrative Law Judge, Appeals Council, and Decision Review Board appeals levels; amendments, E7-20690

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The GAO Report Seems So Inadequate

The report of the Government Accountability Office on withholding of fees for non-attorneys who represent Social Security claimants and in SSI cases was issued last week. The report was more than three years in the making. One would think that after this length of time that the report would be exhaustive. However, the report is only 55 pages long and does not report information on the following topics that I would have expected to be covered:

• Success rates of attorneys versus non-attorney representatives. The report says that Social Security cannot give meaningful data on this. I do not understand since Social Security has reported such data in the past. It is not that I was expecting dramatic differences. Older data showed only minor differences, but this is an important point and should have been covered if at all possible.
  
• Disciplinary actions against attorney versus non-attorney representatives. It should have been possible to contrast the gross number of such actions against attorneys as opposed to non-attorneys. I think there should have been a discussion of the problems that Social Security has in regulating the conduct of both attorneys and non-attorneys. The effect of this shortcoming is lessened for attorneys because of the regulation provided by state bar licensing agencies. There is no comparable agency for non-attorney representatives. If non-attorney representatives are to become a major part of Social Security representation, some better mechanism for regulating the conduct of non-attorney representatives is needed. There are significant issues regarding conflicts of interest since some non-attorney representatives have simultaneously worked as contractors for the Social Security Administration. At least one non-attorney group has offered "finder fees" to those referring clients to them, including physicians, a practice forbidden to attorneys. A large set of rules govern attorney conduct. These rules exist to serve to protect the public. The public may need similar protection when non-attorneys take on functions historically reserved for the legal profession.
  
• The sufficiency of the non-attorney examination. The report discusses the adequacy of the experience requirement for non-attorney withholding, but does not discuss the adequacy of the examination itself. Somehow, an exam consisting of 50 multiple choice questions does not seem like quite enough to me. My understanding is that a fair number of those who have taken the exam thought the same thing.

Tracking Immigration Judges

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University is using Freedom of Information Act requests to track various government functions, including Immigration Judges decisions. You have to wonder how long it will be before they start tracking Social Security Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) in the same way.

Republican Candidates And Social Security

USA Today reports that the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) held a forum on Social Security's future in Sioux City, Iowa yesterday and invited the Republican Presidential candidates. The only two Republican candidates who showed up were Mike Huckabee and John McCain. By contrast, a similar forum for Democratic candidates sponsored by AARP was attended by all the Democratic Presidential candidates other than Barack Obama.

The AARP Social Security forum for Republicans was notable for Mike Huckabee's proposal to offer retirees the option of a one-time Social Security payout in lieu of monthly benefits. Huckabee stated his opinion that the only reason President Bush's plan for Social Security failed was that people kept talking about "privatizing" Social Security when they should have been talking about "personalized accounts."

McNulty To Retire?

Mike McNulty is Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. The second ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee is Sander Levin of Michigan. From CBS News:

Democratic Rep. Michael McNulty (N.Y.) will step down at the end of this Congress, according to the Albany Times Union. The N.Y. Daily News is reporting the same thing, although McNulty is not scheduled to make any public statement on his future until Monday.

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I think I have resolved the technical problems. We will see over the next few days.