Backup And Redundancy

Social Security has built a new backup computer center near Durham, NC. Has it been used to help out since the snowfall must be keeping almost all employees at home preventing proper operation of Social Security's main data processing center in Baltimore?

Also, the Department of the Treasury prints and mails all those Social Security checks. Much of this work is done at a Treasury center in Philadelphia. The weather in Philly has received little national attention but it has to be bad there. I have not heard or read of delays in issuing Social Security and VA checks so I hope that Treasury has been able to shift printing and mailing of these checks to other centers. I have to imagine that Treasury has plenty of backup and redundancy because of the threat of terrorist attack.

Apart from the backup computer center in Durham, I wonder whether Social Security has adequate backup and redundancy for contingencies. This snowstorm is bad but terrorist attacks, fires and floods could be worse. Budgets have been terribly tight for decades at Social Security. I hope that the agency suffers nothing worse than this snowstorm.

Social Security And Open Government

A press release from Social Security:

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the agency has a new Open Government webpage available to the public at www.socialsecurity.gov/open. The new webpage serves as the portal for all agency activities that support the President’s Transparency and Open Government initiative.

“Our new Open Government webpage gives Americans an opportunity to give us their ideas on how we can become a more open and transparent agency,” Commissioner Astrue said. “They will be able to post their ideas on transparency, participation, collaboration, and innovation that should be included in our Open Government Plan. I encourage everyone to visit our webpage and submit their ideas, read and discuss what has been posted, and vote on the ideas that have been submitted."

To submit ideas, click on the link at the top right of the webpage that says, “Share your ideas on our open government plan.” After agreeing to the terms of participation, the link will take you to a webpage that asks for ideas on how Social Security can:

• work better with others inside and outside the government;
• solicit feedback from the public;
• improve the availability and quality of information;
• be more innovative and efficient;
• create an Open Government Plan.

Social Security’s new Open Government webpage also provides easy access to important agency information such as the Agency Strategic Plan, Freedom of Information Act Report, as well as program laws and regulations. The webpage includes links to the datasets that were published last month on www.Data.gov. The agency will publish its Open Government Plan in April.

Cental Offices Remain Closed

In case you were wondering, Social Security's Central Offices in the Baltimore-Washington area remain closed due to the snowstorm.

It Always Takes Longer Than You Expect

On December 31, 2009 Social Security was expecting to open a new hearing office in Fayetteville, NC in August, 2010. Now comes word that the General Services Administration (GSA) has signed a long term lease for space for that hearing office. It sounds like things are right on schedule. Unfortunately, the lease was signed for space in what is currently a burned out shell of a building. The owner of the building has only preliminary drawings for what will be done with the space and is unable to give a timeline for construction until financial arrangements are completed.

I think it would be a safe bet that the new hearing office will not open until well after August, 2010.

By the way, Social Security is leasing 16,000 square feet of space but only plans to have 54 employees in the office. They must be giving the office plenty of room to grow into.

The Show Must Go On

Even though government offices in Washington have been closed for two days now due to snowfall and the area is experiencing another heavy snowfall today, the government employees at the Office of Federal Register still plan to put out an edition tomorrow!

Central Offices Remain Closed

Social Security's offices in the Baltimore-Washington area remain closed today due to the heavy snowfall. More snow is predicted. There is no telling how long this closure could last.

Strange Ruling In Pennsylvania

A court in Pennsylvania has ruled that a worker who files a claim for Social Security retirement benefits forfeits all rights to periodic workers compensation benefits because he has removed himself from the labor market.

More On 1099s

I am hearing from an attorney who has spent more time studying his 1099 than I have that the amount being reported is the gross amount of the attorney fee before deduction of the user fee. Was that intended?

Update: I have had a chance to review my own 1099 and list of cases and can confirm that the user fee was included as if paid to me. One person has suggested that this is just like W-2s and all attorneys have to do is to post the user fee as a deduction on our income tax forms. That is not as easy as the poster thinks. Social Security is not sending out a list of user fees paid and it would be almost impossible to keep track of them. My bookkeeper records the bank deposits she makes and those are my firm's gross income. Doing it any other way would be quite cumbersome and unnatural. If Social Security ever figures out a way to report accurate figures on payments of attorney fees, there is going to be trouble.