Trouble Brewing In California

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that all California state employees will be furloughed for one day each month for the next year and a half. Note that I said "all" California state employees. (See the attached letter. Click on each page to see it full sized.) This includes the California Disability Determination Services (DDS) unit that makes decisions at the initial and reconsideration levels for Social Security disability claims, even though the California DDS is funded by the Social Security Administration. This could make backlogs much worse in California. It is an enormous headache for Social Security.

California is not the only state with severe budget problems. My state, North Carolina, has a huge shortfall and a state constitution that requires a balanced budget. California may not be the only state to use generalized partial furloughs of state employees.

Obama Wants Bigger Budget And More Employees For Social Security

From Joe Davidson's Federal Diary column at the Washington Post:

"The only thing the unions are looking for Obama to do is be fair," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "We understand that he's not going to be in lock step with our positions on everything."...

Gage released a series of letters from Obama that outline his positions on various federal labor related issues. The letters, Gage said, can serve as "a baseline for accountability with the new administration."...

Social Security Administration: Obama said there was a critical need to increase funding for the agency because its staffing has fallen as its beneficiary population has increased.

Gage may have released the letters to the Washington Post, but I cannot find them on the AFGE website.

Update: The letter from President-elect Obama is available through Federal Times. Here is the text:

October 20, 2008

John Gage
National President
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
80 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Dear President Gage,

I am writing to respond to the concerns you raised with my staff regarding the challenges facing the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the issue of Social Security privatization.

First, I strongly agree with you that there is a critical need to increase funding for the SSA administrative expenses account to address the serious challenges facing the agency. Due to prolonged underfunding, SSA has reduced staffing levels even as its workload has increased. SSA agency staffing will soon reach its lowest level since 1972 even though SSA's beneficiary population has nearly doubled since that time.

An unfortunate result of underfunding is an unprecedented backlog in SSA disability claims. As of August 2008, about 767,000 people were awaiting a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge on their Social Security disability claims, compared to about 312,000 cases pending in October 2000. There has also been an increase in Field Office waiting times.

Second, I want assure you that I will continue to strongly oppose Social Security privatization. As you know, I have spoken out many times against President Bush's Social Security privatization plan, including a major speech in the midst of the 2005 privatization debate at the National Press Club. I also voted in 2005, 2006 and 2007 against amendments supported by Senator McCain and other Republicans that aimed to privatize Social Security.

Thank you, John, for everything you and your members do for America.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

Tomorrow Is Deadline For Comments On Proposed Representation Rules

The deadline for posting comments on the proposed new rules on representing claimants before the Social Security Administration is this Friday.

You can post your comments online.

A Perfect Record

From a press release:

In the spirit [state?] of Michigan where the personal injury Law Office of Mayer B. Gordon represents Social Security Disability Claimants, slightly over 50% of Claimants were granted Social Security disability benefits in the year 2007. This is in sharp contrast to Mayer B. Gordon's amazing recovery rate of 100% for his Social Security Disability Clients. ...

The Law Office of Mayer B. Gordon found a solution for their clients. A whopping 77% of Claimants never have to appear for Social Security Disability Hearings. For this fortunate group of 77% the waiting time is slashed significantly. When asked how he achieves these outstanding results on behalf of his clients, Mr. Gordon stated: "I created the culture, but I can't fully take the credit. I have the hardest working, most knowledgeable and dedicated staff in the country." Kathy Sterbling, my paralegal with 30 years of experience, spearheads our team. They treat each and every client with courtesy and respect. This is the way they would like to be treated. We handle Social Security Disability cases with the same care that we put into multi- million dollar medical malpractice, birth injury, auto injury or any other personal injury cases that we have handled over the past 30 years". Mr. Gordon went on to explain that his staff went to great lengths to collect, develop and correlate medical data on each client which they submit to the Social Security Hearings office in brief form, well in advance of the hearing date. This requires dedication to the clients they serve and old fashioned hard work.

Some years ago a woman called me. She said that she had a Social Security disability claim and was looking for representation. She had a question for me. Her question was whether I had ever lost a Social Security disability case. I told her I had. She said that she wanted to hire me. She gave as her reason the fact that she had talked with another attorney and he had boasted to her that he had never lost a Social Security disability case. She said she knew that he could not have represented many Social Security disability claimants. She decided that she had better look for someone with more experience.

Comments On Representation Rules -- Two Days To Go

The deadline for posting comments on the proposed new rules on representing claimants before the Social Security Administration is this Friday.

Thus far, there have been few comments. Here are links to a few worthy on notice:

• Chamberline, Edmunds law firm
• Barkan Neff law firm
• Utah Association for Justice

You can post your comments online.

Social Security Wants To Plan Massive Database Makeover

I cannot begin to understand all of this, but it appears that Social Security is seeking a vendor to do a study on how the agency can reorganize its massive system of databases. I would imagine the study contract alone would be a big one and the contract to do the actual work would be humongous. Can anyone with more knowledge help me out here?

Open Forum: What Do The Election Results Mean For Social Security

At this writing, it is certainly looking as if Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States and that Democrats will have larger margins in the Senate and House of Representatives.

What do you think this means for Social Security? Share your views, opinions and guesses by commenting on this post.

Vote!