Becerra Leaves Congress

     Xavier Becerra, who had been the top Democrat on the House Social Security Subcommittee, has decided to leave Congress to become the California Attorney General. Becerra had served 12 terms in Congress and was Chairman of the House Democratic Causus. He had earlier announced his intention to become the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. He was thought of as a potential Speaker of the House and had been mentioned as a potential Vice Presidential candidate. Becerra has been an ardent supporter of Social Security.

     John Larson of Connecticut is the second ranking Democrat on the House Social Security Subcommittee but that doesn't mean he will necessarily become the ranking minority member of the Subcommittee in the next Congress.  Subcommittee membership is somewhat fluid. Larson could move to another Subcommittee or another more senior member of the Ways and Means Committee could move to the Social Security Subcommittee.

And Yet Disability Determination At Social Security Is Premised Upon Belief That Unskilled Manufacturing Jobs Are As Plentiful Today As They Were 40 Years Ago

From Brookings Instititute

Hearing On Blahous And Reischauer Nominations

     The Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing at 10:00 today on the nominations of Charles P. Blahous III, and Robert D. Reischauer to become members of the Social Security Advisory Board.
     Update: I should have said these are nominations to become members of the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees.

Order Of Succession To Become Acting Commissioner Of Social Security

     Assuming that Acting Commissioner Colvin submits her resignation at the end of President Obama's term of office as expected, here is the order of succession to become Acting Commissioner of Social Security:

• Deputy Commissioner for Operations Nancy Berryhill
• Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance, Quality, and Management Michelle King
• Deputy Commissioner for Systems Robert Kloop
• Regional Commissioner, Atlanta Rodney Taylor
• Regional Commissioner, Dallas Sheila Everett

     Note that this order of succession could be altered by President Obama before he leaves office or by Donald Trump after he takes office.

Action Needed Before Inauguration Day

     From Michael Hiltzik writing in the Los Angeles Times:

The Department of Education and the Social Security Administration jointly are doing yeoman’s work in identifying about 387,000 severely disabled and insolvent Americans saddled with federal student debt they can’t repay and informing them that the law allows their loans to be forgiven. But one agency still needs to act to make sure these people aren’t hit with a tax penalty when that happens: the Internal Revenue Service.

Thus far the IRS has been silent, even though Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tried to poke it awake last month with a stern letter. Time may be getting short, because the election places the White House and both houses of Congress in the hands of a Republican Party that often has displayed disdain for the plight of people on disability.

 The affected persons have been judged to be totally and permanently disabled and to have annual income below the federal poverty level for a family of two, or less than about $16,000. About 80% of those in this category of disability had zero earnings in 2014, according to the Social Security Administration; of the 16% who report any earnings at all, the average is about $8,000. Their median net worth is $200 — and that might even be an overstatement. But their average student loan balance is $18,000. About half already are in default on their loans, the Education Department says. Under federal law, as disabled and insolvent borrowers they’re eligible to have their federal student loans zeroed out.

But few of the eligible borrowers have been taking advantage of the law. Some may have been dissuaded by the Education Department’s demand for extensive documentation of their medical condition. Some may not even have known about the law.

In April, the Education Department and Social Security Administration got proactive by matching up their databases to identify permanently disabled borrowers, whose medical records are kept by the latter agency. Eligible borrowers were to get a letter explaining their eligibility for loan forgiveness and a streamlined application form. ...

The problem is that under federal tax rules, the balance on forgiven debt can count as income — and the Education Department’s discharge of a loan triggers automatic notification to the IRS....

Even if the recipient owes no taxes — and many of them have virtually no taxable income — they may end up hearing from IRS collection agents or even facing an audit. ...

Warren tried to goad the IRS into issuing a no-action guideline for these borrowers — a blanket rule that tax on student loan forgiveness for the severely disabled should be presumed to be waived. That would avert unnecessary pain for the borrowers and the government agencies alike, she observed.

     By the way, on September 15, 2014, I called on Social Security and the Department of Education to do a database match and automatically cancel the federal student debt for as many of the disabled as possible. A database match program to do exactly what I called for was announced on April 12, 2016. I'd like to think I deserve credit for coming up with this idea but who knows. It should have been obvious to Social Security and the Department of Education without anyone from the outside suggesting it. I don't know why they took so long to do it.

Number Of Disability Claims And Awards Declining

From Office of Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration

Happy Thanksgiving!

SSA Wants To Get Program Uniformity Rules Finalized Before Change Of Administration

     Social Security has sent a final version of the proposed regulations they've titled Ensuring Program Uniformity at the Hearing and Appeals Council Levels of the Administrative Review Process to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final approval before publishing them as final rules. The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has opposed these rules because of their harsh effects.

     I'm surprised that this is being done so late. Typically a new President suspends not just ongoing regulatory actions but new rules that have been finalized but which have not yet gone into effect. Since Social Security has to give at least 30 days notice before a final rule goes into effect, OMB has little time to act on this proposal.

     By the way, if you were going to rush something through, why wouldn't you rush through the proposal to prevent claimants who need a representative payee from buying guns?