Legislation Enacted On Payments To Prisoners

The No Social Security Benefits for Prisoners Act was passed by Congress on Thursday. The Act prohibits payments of Social Security benefits to anyone who is ineligible for benefit payments because of imprisonment. This may seem redundant but some prisoners are otherwise eligible for benefits for periods of time before their imprisonment. This prohibition on payment of benefits only applies until the claimant is again eligible for payment of benefits, at which point the back benefits may be paid. Amounts may still be deducted and paid out of benefits owing to a prisoner for items such as child support or attorney fees that will be paid to someone other than the prisoner.

Press Release On Incorrect Notices

A Social Security press release:

The Social Security Administration earlier this month mailed notices that contained incorrect January 2010 payment dates. These erroneous notices went to about 6 million beneficiaries who receive their payments on either the second, third, or fourth Wednesday of each month, and are part of the annual benefit notices that go to 52 million Social Security beneficiaries. In the notice the payment date is incorrectly shown as one week before what the actual date of payment will be. The other information in the notice, including the payment amount, is correct. Social Security is sending a letter explaining the error to beneficiaries who received the incorrect one as soon as possible.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion these incorrect notices will cause,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security. “The problem was caused by an unfortunate human error. We are correcting the misinformation as quickly as possible, and we are reviewing our processes closely to prevent this type of mistake from happening in the future. People receiving Social Security benefits in January 2010 should know that their payment will arrive on the same payment day that it has arrived in the past.”

Bed Bugs In Jamaica

From a presolicitation notice posted by Social Security:

The Social Security Administration (SSA), Region II, requires a contractor to use sufficient heat levels and heat application time to remove a bed bug infestation that has been identified inside a several [sic] vertical file cabinets currently containing paper files and folders. The files are located at the SSA facility in Jamaica, Queens, New York. The seven areas in the building needing treatment are spread across five floors.

Commissioner's E-Mail On Labor Management Forum

From: ^Commissioner Broadcast
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 9:41 AM
Subject: COMMISSIONER'S BROADCAST--12/10/09

A Message To All SSA Employees

Subject: Executive Order Creating Labor Management Forum

I want to share with you an Executive Order President Obama signed Wednesday. The Order calls for creation of a non-adversarial forum for managers, employees, and employees' union representatives to promote constructive labor relations and improve productivity and effectiveness in the Federal Government.

I look forward to implementing this Executive Order and have asked Dr. Reginald Wells and his staff to take the lead in this new initiative.

To read the Executive Order, click here.

Michael J. Astrue

Commissioner

Ways And Means Hearing Scheduled

From an announcement of the House Ways and Means Committee:

Congressman John S. Tanner (D-TN), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security, and Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, announced today that the Subcommittees will hold a joint oversight hearing on the progress made to replace the Social Security Administration’s National Computer Center. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 in the main Ways and Means Committee hearing room 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 9:30 a.m. ...

This hearing will continue Congressional oversight of this critical project. It will provide a general update on the status of the project, including an examination of the decisions made thus far, and on the planning and next steps being taken by SSA and GSA. It will also provide an update on the agencies’ plans for avoiding delays in the project’s completion, and contingency plans in the event of catastrophic failure of the existing NCC prior to completion of the new facility. ...

The hearing will focus on the progress to date of SSA [Social Security Administration] and GSA [General Services Administration, the agency that handles construction of new government buildings] in using ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] resources to replace the NCC, [National Computer Center] including the development of requirements for the new center, and the site selection process and criteria. The hearing will also evaluate SSA’s and GSA’s management of the potential for unexpected cost and delay. Finally, the hearing will examine SSA’s preparedness in case of catastrophic failure of the existing NCC, including the role of the new data support center in North Carolina.

Labor-Management Forum

From FedBlog (emphasis added):

President Barack Obama signed an executive order today creating a "Labor-Management Forum"--a national partnership including both management and labor representatives to discuss labor issues and try to resolve differences, to advise the president on labor-related issues, and also to set up similar entities at the agency level.

Unlike an earlier version of the order, it will not require agencies to collectively bargain over the so-called "permissive issues," such as employee grading, technology, method of work, and other issues which are exempted from collective bargaining by Title V of the federal code. ...

Waiting In West Virginia

From The State Journal of Charleston, WV:

According to Dan Allsup, director of communications for Allsup Inc., 13,700 West Virginians are awaiting hearings on claims, with a 490-day average nationwide for a hearing. ...

In West Virginia in September, the average wait for a hearing was 396 days at the Morgantown branch of the Social Security office. Charleston's wait was 317 days, and Huntington's was 299 -- an average of 337 for state residents waiting for a judgment hearing. ...

"Ninety-eight to 99 percent of the people we work with are approved because we cut the hassle and make the process easier," Allsup said.

Are there unfair trade practices laws in West Virginia?

Nine Years?

From a press release:

The U.S. Social Security Administration has awarded Abt Associates a contract to implement and evaluate the Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND). The demonstration, mandated by Congress in 1999, will determine whether retaining benefits at higher levels of earnings will increase employment and income for recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). ...

Congress mandated this study to test the effect of reducing the SSDI benefit by $1 for every $2 of countable earnings above the SGA threshold. In addition to offering this positive financial incentive, the demonstration will also test whether offering BOND participants enhanced counseling--to assist them in understanding the rules changes and taking advantage of them--will lead to higher earnings than only eliminating the "SGA cash cliff." ...

After a pilot period to test important implementation procedures, the full demonstration is scheduled to be launched in April 2011 and will involve approximately 90,000 participants in ten large, randomly selected sites around the U.S. SSDI beneficiaries will be randomly assigned to treatment and control groups for the purpose of testing the incentives. The results will be followed over the course of the nine-year period.