Two non-controversial regulatory packages have moved forward. The Use of Electronic Payroll Data To Improve Program Administration package has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget for publication as final regs. Final rules on Availability of Information and Records to the Public, concerning Freedom of Information Act requests have been published in the Federal Register today.
Dec 18, 2024
Regulations Advance
Dec 17, 2024
Honor For Social Security Foremother
From a press release:
Today [December 16] President Biden will sign a proclamation establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, to honor the historic contributions of America’s first woman Cabinet Secretary and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor.
Frances Perkins was the leading architect behind the New Deal and led many labor and economic reforms that continue to benefit Americans today. During her 12 years as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she envisioned and helped create Social Security ...
Frances Perkins deserves more credit for the creation of Social Security than anyone else.
Dec 16, 2024
Crunch Time For Continuing Resolution
From Newsweek:
Customer services from the Social Security Administration (SSA) could be subject to delays in 2025 if [no additional] funding is agreed on by lawmakers before the end of the year.
The government agency was forced to implement a hiring freeze in November after Congress denied additional funding for the SSA in its September continuing resolution. ...
However, in September, House Republicans blocked what is known as a budget anomaly request by the Biden administration for an increase in the SSA's current 2024 annual funding level... . With a December 20 deadline set for another stopgap government funding bill, it remains to be seen whether the same request will be granted to fund the agency through to March 2025. ...
SSA spokesperson Mark Hinkle told news outlet Government Executive that, without the funding, the agency is being forced to "operate conservatively."
"We have been forced to restrict hiring to critical targeted areas and will not be able to invest in new information technology development," Hinkle said.
"In addition, we have reduced overtime to historically low levels and essentially have no overtime to serve the customers who are waiting in our lobbies late in the day or to clear workloads that we are unable to get to during core hours of operations." ...
The deadline for the next continuing resolution is December 20.
Dec 15, 2024
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