Furloughs Worthless

From the Central Jersey Courier News:

State officials have done the right thing in taking a hard line pushing through once-a-month furloughs of state workers.

But the goal of the furloughs is supposed to be saving money. So why is the program also swallowing up the state workers paid with federal funds? Those furloughs won't save the state a dime.

Officials have said only that it's a "policy decision," which can be translated as, "We don't have a reason we want to tell you, so stop questioning us." ...

Even the feds don't want the furloughs. The Social Security Administration, for instance, has requested exemptions in New Jersey and other states for the state workers it pays to evaluate disability claims. ...

We urge exemptions from furloughs for those state workers paid with federal funds.

Time Will Tell How Significant This Moment Is

This broadcast e-mail went out earlier today from David Foster the Deputy Commissioner for Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) to all ODAR employees:

Date: April 27, 2009

Subject: Tipping the Backlog

It is my pleasure to report to you that this month, we turned the corner on the disability backlog. We started the year with a pending of 760,813 cases and we ended April at 756,107 cases. My congratulations to everyone.

I will be asking the office managers to find a way to celebrate this moment. While we are still a far cry from moving the disability backlog to 466,000 cases, these moments come rarely and they must be enjoyed.

Great job! David

Wintess List For Congressional Hearing

The House Social Security Subcommittee announced the following witness list for its hearing on Tuesday, April 28 on Social Security's implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA):

• Mary Glenn-Croft, Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance and Management, Social Security Administration
• Rob Hewell, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Public Buildings Service, United States General Services Administration
• The Honorable Patrick O’Carroll, Inspector General, Social Security Administration
• Valerie Melvin, Director of Information Management and Human Capital Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Sylvester J. Schieber, Chairman, Social Security Advisory Board

Schieber has already posted what appears to be his written statement or at least an attachment for his written statement on the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) website. The title is "Bridging the Gap: Improving SSA’s Public Service through Technology." This is in line with Schieber's apparent belief that the way to solve Social Security's service delivery problems is by investing in technology.

I certainly agree that Social Security needs technological improvement, but it seems obvious at ground level that the only thing that will solve Social Security's service delivery problem is more manpower. We have not seen much from the SSAB about Social Security's manpower needs. This seems unbalanced and misleading to me.

It is interesting that there will be a witness from the Public Buildings Service at General Services Administration (GSA). If Social Security is going to hire many more personnel, it is going to need to lease additional office space. GSA does this for the federal government. GSA has a longstanding reputation for being incredibly slow at acquiring office space.

Union Newsletter

Council 220 of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a labor union which represents most Social Security employees, has posted its March 2009 newsletter. It contains articles about::

• The union's hopes for the Obama Administration
• The union's problems with some Social Security managers and policies,
• A dinner in honor of the 50th year of service of Jim Marshall, who is head of AFGE Council 215 which represents most employees of Social Security's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR)
• Bonuses paid to Social Security management.

SSAB On SGA

The Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) has issued an "Issue Brief" on the subject of Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA), a concept used in the Social Security disability programs. Basically, if one is engaging in SGA, one cannot be considered disabled, but SGA is a term of art. Work may not be SGA if low earnings, unsuccessful work attempts, made work, subsidized employment, impairment related work expenses, trial work periods, etc. are taken into consideration. And don't get me started on self-employment as SGA or the effect of blindness on SGA.

There has been a consensus for some years that the whole concept of SGA needs a fresh look. One of the more common themes is that SGA should be a ramp instead of a cliff. I don't know how to quickly explain the ramp-cliff distinction but if you've read this far, you probably already know what I'm talking about. Despite the consensus, nothing has been done about SGA since doing something will probably mean more people will get on or stay on Social Security disability benefits. That costs money,which didn't appeal to either President Bush or Clinton.

Other than discussing the bizarre aspect of how blindness affects SGA the "Issue Brief" is mostly superficial, but still useful, since it does point to an area of the law that is long overdue for reform, at a time when reform may be politically feasible.

One suggestion: The biggest problem now is that SGA is just too complicated. Claimants have no idea how it works. Even many Social Security employees what should understand how SGA works, don't. The best work incentives imaginable won't work if claimants don't understand them and Social Security has great difficulty administering them. The first goal should be simplification. Going to a ramp instead of a cliff will help, but that would just be a start.

SSI: Crackpots With Money

From the website of the Social Security Institute (SSI):

The Social Security Institute (SSI) is a national, 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan seniors’ advocacy organization working to promote the retirement security of today’s seniors and the seniors of tomorrow. SSI’s top policy priorities are to stop the raid on the Social Security Trust Funds, prevent cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits, and protect seniors from health care rationing and other limitations on their access to health care.

And this is their explanation of what they mean by the "raid on the Social Security Trust Funds:"

The Administration intends to spend half the Social Security surplus during this year and next to bail out big, bad banks. The total Social Security surplus in 2009 is projected to equal $217 billion; the Obama Administration proposes to spend $125 billon of it to bail out the banks. The total Social Security surplus in 2010 is projected to equal $231.1 billion; The Obama Administration proposes to spend $125 billion of it to bail out the banks. Had enough? Mad enough? Riled up enough? Sign the petition to stop raiding Social Security and future generations to bail out big, bad banks and insurance companies.

OK, investing the Social Security trust funds in U.S. government bonds that go to pay for things that this group does not like is a "raid" on the Social Security trust funds. So, what should Social Security do with the money in the trust funds? Invest in the U.S. stock market? That doesn't look like quite as good an option as it did a couple of years ago to anyone, including this group The SSI website recommends that individuals invest in gold, foreign currencies and foreign stocks. Maybe that is how the group wants to invest Social Security trust funds.

I would guess that the SSI is quite well funded. Their website is well designed. They has at least three staff members.

By the way, the SSI website throws around the word "fascism" quite freely.

NCSSMA Newsletter

The National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA), an organization of Social Security management personnel, has issued its April 2009 Newsletter. Among other things, the newsletter includes an interview with David Foster, the new Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), and a piece written by a woman who went from working in Social Security field offices to working as a group supervisor at ODAR.

Not Likely To Happen Here

The National Post reports that a court in Ontario, Canada has held that a Canadian law that excludes alcoholics and drug addicts from receiving disability payments violates the provincial Human Rights Code.