Biestek Transcript Available

     The transcript of the Supreme Court oral argument in Biestek v. Berryhill, a case concerning whether vocational experts must produce the data they rely upon when testifying in Social Security hearings, is now available.

George H.W. Bush’s Most Important Social Security Moment

      From the Motley Fool:

Under George H.W. Bush, the single-most memorable [Social Security] moment was the signing of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) on Dec. 19, 1989. OBRA contained 25 separate provisions related to Social Security, which included the requirement that the Social Security Administration send personal earning and benefit statements to persons working under Social Security. These statements allow workers to estimate what they'll receive from the program if claiming at full retirement age. 

Florida ALJ Arrested

     From the Tampa Bay Times:

A Pinellas County administrative law judge was arrested Sunday on charges of DUI and leaving the scene of a crash after driving the wrong way on Gunn Highway and striking another car, deputies said.

Arline Colon, 49, was driving a Jeep Wrangler south in the northbound lanes near Isbell Lane in the Odessa area shortly before 9 p.m. when she crashed into a Nissan Altima, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office....

Colon did not stop to provide any information and continued driving south, but the Jeep's front axle snapped and it came to a stop in the road near North Mobley Road, deputies said, about a mile from the crash scene. 

 A deputy arrived and found Colon sitting in a gray sedan parked nearby. She had a visible seatbelt mark on her body, her wallet was found in the Jeep's front passenger and her flip flops were found under the brake pedal, according to the Sheriff's Office. Deputies say Colon smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes and was unable to stand under her own power. ...

Florida Bar records show Colon is an administrative law judge for the U.S. Social Security Administration’s St. Petersburg office. ...

Records show Sunday's arrest is Colon's second this year.

She was arrested Aug. 17 and charged with providing false information to a law enforcement officer, a first degree misdemeanor. ...

User Fee Cap To $95 In 2019

     The cap on the user fee charged to attorneys and others who receive direct payment of fees coming out of the back benefits of the claimants they represent will be $95 in 2019. This is because of a cost of living adjustment. There is no cost of living adjustment on the maximum fee that may be paid. This means that because the cost of living has gone up my attorney fees are going down. Does this make sense to you?

Redetermination Regs Withdrawn

     The Social Security Administration had sent proposed new regulations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on "Redeterminations When There Is a Reason To Believe Fraud or Similar Fault Was Involved in an Individual's Application for Benefits." OMB has to approve proposed new regulations before they can be published in the Federal Register for comments. Social Security has now withdrawn that proposal. We don't know exactly what was in the proposal. They only reveal that if the proposal is approved by OMB and gets published.

     Probably this proposal was withdrawn because of the recent decision of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Hicks v. Commissioner which held that the way Social Security had been doing redeterminations of cases where Eric Conn had previously represented claimants was unconstitutional and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. 

     I don't know what, if anything, this means about the path the agency will take from here in the Conn cases. In court filings Social Security has indicated that they are seeking the opinion of the Solicitor General. In general, Social Security seems to be an a "Mother, may I" mode on just about everything these days. The fact that there's an Acting Commissioner probably has a lot to do with it. The lack of clear direction from above may also have something to do with it.

Social Security Offices Closed On Wednesday

     As is traditional, federal offices will be closed on Wednesday, the day of the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush.
     I've been getting questions about whether Social Security will really be closed on Wednesday. The answer is definitely yes as to field offices and hearing offices. It's been so long since we've had a death of a past President that people had forgotten how this is treated.

Really?

     From Social Security Update, an agency newsletter:

Social Security received high scores again this year on the Plain Language Report Card — A+ for compliance and A for Writing quality — in a year that many agencies saw a decline in their scores. This year, the report card concentrated on two pages of the website: the www.socialsecurity.gov home page and the redesigned my Social Security page at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

Since 2012, the Center for Plain Language has graded federal agencies on compliance with the Plain Writing Act — the 2010 law that requires government writing to be clear, concise, and well organized.

Legislation Introduced On Field Office Closures

     From a press release:

In the wake of this year’s closure of the Mitchell Street SSA field office in Milwaukee, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) introduced H.R. 7146, the Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2018, which would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to operate a sufficient number of fully staffed field offices, as well as set up a review process for their closure.

     With Democrats in control of the House of Representatives this sort of bill could get a serious hearing. There will probably be quite a number of House Social Security Subcommittee hearings next year and they'll be very different from what we've seen over the last eight years. Sure, there have been hearings on office closures with the GOP in charge but, come on, we knew ,and Social Security knew, they weren't serious. It will be different with Democrats in charge. Yes, the Republican controlled Senate can block passage of stand alone legislation on field offices but something like this could easily get put in some must pass legislation such as an appropriations bill with enough money behind it to make it practical. Remember, there will be a lot of GOP Senators from purple states up for re-election in 2020.