New Garnishment Rules

From today's Federal Register:

Treasury, SSA [Social Security Administration], VA [Department of Veterans Affairs], RRB [Railroad Retirement Board] and OPM [Office of Personnel Management] (Agencies) are issuing an interim final rule to implement statutory restrictions on the garnishment of Federal benefit payments. The rule establishes procedures that financial institutions must follow when they receive a garnishment order against an account holder who receives certain types of Federal benefit payments by direct deposit. The rule requires financial institutions that receive such a garnishment order to determine the sum of such Federal benefit payments deposited to the account during a two month period, and to ensure that the account holder has access to an amount equal to that sum or to the current balance of the account, whichever is lower.

No Place In A Debate

From Sam Stein writing at the Huffington Post:

Lost amid the budget battles in Congress and the anti-union legislation being considered in several states has been the White House's deliberate decision to take the topic of Social Security reform off the deficit debate menu.

The latest move in that direction came on Tuesday, when Jason Furman, deputy director of the President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, insisted that talk of Social Security reform "is not one you care about" if "you are worried about our long-run fiscal future." ...

Rather than merely ruling out drastic changes to the entitlement program, he is arguing that Social Security has no place in a debate over the deficit ...

Information Technology Progresses

From Information Week Government:

Of the 2.48 million retirement applications filed with the Social Security Administration in fiscal 2010, 37% were submitted online. That's progress for an agency that depends on old mainframe software to deliver services, but a long way from the goal--recommended by an advisory panel of government and business executives--of conducting 90% of such transactions online.

"We need to drive that up substantially," said Social Security CIO Frank Baitman, in a recent interview at the agency's headquarters in Woodlawn, Md. "As customer expectations are changing, they expect to do business with Social Security online." ...

Social Security stands to save millions of dollars by shifting more of its interactions online, according to a recent presentation by Karen Palm, the agency's associate CIO of innovation. For example, it can save $4.5 million annually for every 1% shift in the number of address and status changes that get completed online.

"Skeleton Crew" In Case Of Government Shutdown

From the Federal Times (emphasis added):

The Social Security Administration on Feb. 17 told the American Federation of Government Employees that it wants to start bargaining by March 22 over how it would enact a furlough.

Jay Clary, SSA's acting associate commissioner, told AFGE that the agency has not decided to furlough employees, but that it wants to figure out arrangements in case lawmakers order a governmentwide furlough or if budget negotiations fall apart and the government shuts down.

SSA Chief Human Capital Officer Reginald Wells said the agency has largely planned who would make up a "skeleton crew" that would have to keep working during a shutdown.

"Discussions [about how to implement a possible shutdown] are happening at a very high level on a regular basis these days," Wells said.

And here is more from Reginald Wells from another Federal Times article:

Most of those employees [who would keep working during a government shutdown] would have to maintain computer systems, facilities, and other elements of SSA's infrastructure, or provide security at buildings.

Who Said It?

Guess who said this: "... Social Security is not a contributor to our deficit of any material right now. Social Security is not a big driver of our debt problems. Medicare and Medicaid are the biggest drivers of our future debt problems."

Click here for the answer.

A Job Opening

Posted on Craigs List:

ADVOCATE (Long Island City, NY)

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Date: 2011-02-18, 5:54PM EST
Reply to: interview@binderandbinder.com ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

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National Social Security Disability Advocacy company seeking associate attorney for Long Island City, NY office. Duties include administrative hearings, file review and development, and writing. Candidate will travel extensively throughout the country. Must be licensed in any state. Email resume and 3-5 page writing sample to interview@binderandbinder.com.

Crossing The 70,000 Threshold

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted the year end figures for the number of employees at Social Security. Here they are with earlier numbers for comparison purposes.

• December 2010 70,270
• June 2010 69,600
  
• March 2010 66,863
  
• December 2009 67,486
  
• September 2009 67,632
  
• June 2009 66,614
  
• March 2009 63,229
  
• December 2008 63,733
  
• September 2008 63,990
  
• September 2007 62,407
• September 2006 63,647
• September 2005 66,147
• September 2004 65,258
• September 2003 64,903
• September 2002 64,648
• September 2001 65,377
• September 2000 64,521
• September 1999 63,957
• September 1998 65,629

By the way, before anyone claims that the increase in the number of employees at Social Security shows that there is some fat that can be cut, let me just remind everyone that Social Security's workload has been increasing rapidly because of the aging of the baby boomer generation.

What Happens At Social Security In The Event Of A Prolonged Government Shutdown?

Early this morning, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund government operations for the remainder of the fiscal year. The bill contains massive spending cuts that would cripple the Social Security Administration and many other agencies. It also contains myriad provisions that Democrats find unacceptable, such as a prohibition on use of funds to implement health care reform. Quick agreement with the Senate and the President on a compromise seems unlikely. A government shutdown looms if there is no agreement by March 4.

The most recent time there was a government shutdown, in 1995, most Social Security employees were furloughed but then quickly called back to work on an emergency basis. Social Security employees should not take too much comfort from this history. It is uncertain how many Social Security employees would remain on their jobs if there is a shutdown this year.

There is another issue. March 10 is a payday for federal employees. Even if most Social Security employees stay on their jobs, will they receive a paycheck on March 10 if the impasse is continuing? I am not sure but I think the answer is "yes" for that paycheck since I believe it is for work performed before March 4 but I think that the answer would be "no" for the next payday of March 24 unless Social Security can use funds previously appropriated for construction of a new National Computer Center.

Is it conceivable that this budget impasse would result in a government shutdown that would extend three weeks? I am afraid so.

An extended impasse may also make it impossible for Social Security to pay contractors such as security guard companies. How long will they be able to continue supplying vital services to Social Security without being paid?