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Hearing Before the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies U.S. House of
Representatives
APRIL 13, 2000
Statement by the Commissioner of Social Security on Fiscal Year 2001
Appropriation Requests
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here
today to present the fiscal year (FY) 2001 appropriation requests of the
Social Security Administration (SSA). This budget supports SSA's mission:
"To promote the economic security of the nation's people through
compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America's
social security programs." In FY 2001, we will continue our efforts to
safeguard the public's investment in Social Security programs, improve our
program management, and provide excellent customer service as we meet the
challenges of the 21st century.
The President's FY 2001 budget request for administration of SSA's
programs - including $7.134 billion for the Limitation on Administrative
Expenses (LAE), $73 million for the Office of the Inspector General, and
$30 million for research - will provide the resources for SSA to serve the
public in FY 2001 and meet the growing challenges of the new century.
Before focusing on the century ahead, I want to state that the 20th
century closed on a high note for us. I am excited to provide the
following to you as examples:
- SSA was one of the first Federal agencies to start work on the Y2K
problem[t1], and our conversion went smoothly. We worked closely with
the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and the Postal Service to
ensure that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income checks and
direct deposit payments for January 2000 and beyond were paid timely and
without interruption.
- The turn of the century marked another year in which SSA was
recognized for reliable financial reporting. SSA received a "clean"
opinion (meaning our financial statements are reliable) from the
Inspector General for its FY 1999 financial statements. Only 11 out of
24 major Federal agencies reported on their financial statements by
March 1, as required by the Chief Financial Officers Act, and received
"clean" opinions on their statements. [t2]
- In the two years that Syracuse University's Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs' multi-year Government Performance
Project has been underway, SSA is one of only two Federal agencies to
receive an "A" [t3]for its management performance. The overall, average
grade for the 20 agencies assessed was a "B-."[t4]
- As a final example, our customers also think that we are doing a
pretty good job. In December 1999, the results of the American Customer
Satisfaction Index, which surveyed SSA customers currently receiving
retirement benefits, revealed that SSA's customer service was rated one
of the highest of participating Federal government agencies and almost
10 points higher than the comparable private sector index.
Overview of SSA's Programs & Overall Budget
I would like to now take a moment to provide you with a brief overview
of the programs that SSA administers and the Agency's overall budget.
Because virtually all Americans have the benefit protection provided by
Social Security's programs and nearly one in five receives benefits, we
can say that SSA touches the lives of virtually every American. Social
Security provides protection against loss of earnings due to retirement,
disability and death. While it is often thought of as a retirement
program, Social Security also provides benefits to disabled workers, their
families, and to surviving family members of deceased workers. Social
Security disability and survivors benefits are a critical source of income
for workers and families during a vulnerable time in their lives. And,
thanks to the strong, bipartisan effort last year on the Ticket to Work
and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, disabled beneficiaries who
want to work will be able to utilize enhanced return-to-work initiatives
that we will continue to implement.
SSA also administers the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program
which is funded not through Social Security taxes, but from general
revenues, and provides payments to financially needy individuals who are
aged, blind or disabled. A new program, title VIII of the Social Security
Act, that authorizes benefit payments for certain World War II veterans,
also is funded from general revenues.
For FY 2001, 98 percent of the $461 billion that SSA will outlay will
be paid in the form of monthly benefits to 50 million Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI), Federal SSI, and
Black Lung beneficiaries. The remaining funds will support SSA's ability
to deliver services. For example, this funding supports activities such as
the following:
- On average, each workday about 100,000 people visit one of our 1,300
field offices and over 240,000 people call our 800-number;
- Each workday we process an average of 20,000 initial claims for
retirement, survivors, disability or SSI benefits, and hold 2,400
hearings before Administrative Law Judges; and
- Each year, we make certain that over 250 million earnings items are
correctly credited to workers' accounts to ensure that future benefit
payments are accurate.
It is important to note that the administrative resources
required to make benefit payments and to manage the Social Security
programs are part of the appropriation requests that we are asking you to
support.
Limitation on Administrative ExpensesIt is our LAE account
that provides the resources to administer the OASDI programs, the SSI
program, certain health insurance functions, and the new title VIII
program. It supports our efforts to improve our policy, research and
analysis capabilities; eliminate fraud, waste and abuse; and deliver
service to all of our customers.
The President's budget request for SSA's LAE account before you today
is for $7.134 billion[t5]. I can say that reductions from this funding
level may lead to lower levels of service[t6]. The President's FY 2001 LAE
request for $7.134 billion [t7]includes:
- $6.684 billion for basic day-to-day operating expenses, including
$91 million derived from user fees paid by States for Federal
administration of State supplementation of SSI payments; and
- $450 million in discretionary cap-adjusted funding to conduct
additional continuing disability reviews (CDRs).
The administrative resources requested in the LAE appropriation will
enable SSA to maintain level staffing and:
- Pay benefits to about 50 million people every month;
- Issue 16 million new and replacement Social Security number cards;
- Handle 57 million calls to SSA's 800-number with a 92 percent
5-minute access rate;
- Post 259 million earnings items to workers' earnings records;
- Process 1.7 million periodic CDRs;
- Complete 2.1 million SSI non-disability redeterminations of
eligibility;
- Process 3.1 million retirement and survivors claims, 2.1 million
initial disability claims, and 582 thousand hearings; and
- Issue 126 million Social Security Statements to covered workers.
I will now highlight some of the issues and initiatives related to
SSA's FY 2001 budget request.
Strategic Management and Accountability
SSA is committed both to the concepts of the Government Performance and
Results Act and to improving our ability to manage for results on a
day-to-day basis at all levels of the organization. SSA has been
publishing an Agency Strategic Plan since 1988. Our latest, entitled
"Keeping the Promise," was SSA's first as an independent agency and was
published in September 1997.
SSA issued its most recent Accountability Report in November 1999 to
document the results of the Agency's performance in FY 1999. I am proud
that both the Strategic Plan and the Accountability Report have been well
received by the Congress. At SSA, we continue to respond to the concerns
of this Committee, the Congress, our employees, and other stakeholders in
communicating the overall direction of the Agency and the specific
performance goals by which we will be held accountable. I am pleased to
say that SSA's Annual Performance Plan (APP) for FY 2000 received from the
General Accounting Office one of the highest scores among Federal agencies
last year. SSA's APP for FY 2001 was delivered to Congress earlier this
month.
The dawning of the 21 ST century brings with it many new challenges for
SSA. Because the baby boom generation is aging, and a large number of
people are in their late 40's and 50's, our current estimates indicate
that new claims for all types of benefits will increase over the next 10
years by 23 percent, from 6.3 million to 7.8 million, roughly double the
level of increase experienced in the 1990's. Our initial retirement claims
workload will increase by roughly 21 percent by 2010, and our initial
disability claims workload will increase by roughly 25 percent by 2010.
Future customer expectations, rapid change in information technology
coupled with the expected workload growth created by the baby boomers,
and, simultaneously, a maturing workforce and limited resources, create
the compelling need for the Agency to develop a vision that looks beyond
our current 5-year planning horizon. We are developing a vision that takes
SSA out 10 years. This vision, called the "2010 Vision," will allow us to
make better long-term investment decisions and to coordinate strategies
and efforts toward long-term service goals. We can influence the direction
of change only if we have a long-term vision of where we want to go. The
"2010 Vision" will outline our view of service in the future, what work we
will do in 2010, and how we will do it. It will describe how the Agency
will respond to trends in our external environment that signal continuing
rapid changes in society, particularly in the use of information
technology. It will provide enough detail to shape the Agency's strategic
plan, and drive our action plans and budgets to move us into the future.
Policy Development and Research
Since becoming an independent agency, we have made significant
investments in our policy development and research infrastructure. For
example, SSA established a separate Office of Policy, from which to
design, coordinate, and effectively undertake research and policy
development efforts that respond to the needs of Agency policy makers, the
Congress, and the public. One of SSA's five strategic goals is, "To
promote valued, strong and responsive social security programs and conduct
effective policy development, research and program evaluation."
The extramural research budget that we propose for FY 2001 is $30
million (including $7 million in base research funding classified by the
Office of Management and Budget as "mandatory under Appropriations
Committee jurisdiction" under the Budget Enforcement Act), which will
allow us to continue the efforts that we have begun over the past several
years. These resources will enable SSA to continue research efforts on
long-range solvency issues, the effects of demographic and economic
changes on program beneficiaries, and understanding disability program
growth and factors that promote self-sufficiency and return to work.
Anti-Fraud Initiatives and Program Integrity
Ensuring the integrity of our programs is an SSA priority. The public
rightfully expects us to be vigilant stewards of its tax dollars. SSA is
committed to improving the administration of its programs while
maintaining a policy of zero tolerance for fraud and abuse.
National Anti-Fraud Committee
The Agency's wide-ranging zero tolerance effort is coordinated through
the National Anti-Fraud Committee, which includes SSA senior staff, and is
co-chaired by the Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment, and
Management and SSA's Inspector General. In addition to developing its own
anti-fraud initiatives, the National Committee oversees and supports
Regional Anti-Fraud Committees, which were set up to coordinate anti-fraud
strategies in each of SSA's 10 regions. The Regional Committees include
regional commissioners and other senior SSA and Office of Inspector
General staff as well as managers of SSA district offices.
Employees Perhaps SSA's biggest contributors to our anti-fraud
efforts are the employees in our approximately 1,300 field offices, whose
commitment to maintaining the integrity of the Social Security program is
unswerving. Often, it is field office and Disability Determination
Services employees who are able to uncover suspicious or fraudulent
schemes. These employees are our biggest assets in our fight against
fraud. We will continue to train them in anti-fraud practices and seek
additional tools to make their anti-fraud commitment easier and more
effective.
Office of the Inspector General
Since becoming an independent agency in March 1995, we have had our own
Inspector General whose mission is to protect the integrity of SSA's
programs. A strong Office of the Inspector General (OIG), working together
with SSA employees in local offices, is the most effective means we have
to control fraud and abuse in the programs we administer. To strengthen
the OIG's capacity to accomplish its mission, SSA has continued to
increase the resources available to the OIG, more than doubling its staff
since FY 1996. Our FY 2001 budget request for the OIG includes an increase
of more than 10 percent over last year to support increased attention to
deterring fraudulent activities and identifying and bringing to justice
those who commit fraud, whether members of the public or employees.
Stronger Management of the SSI Program
We take very seriously the responsibility entrusted to us for managing
the SSI program, and this budget focuses on several activities designed to
improve our stewardship of it. These include: increasing the number of SSI
non-disability redeterminations processed and improving payment accuracy
through the increased use of computer matches and real-time access to key
payment-related information. Fully funding our budget request will enable
SSA to process more than 2 million SSI non-disability redeterminations.
This will help ensure that those who receive SSI payments are meeting
program requirements and are receiving the correct benefit amount.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in payment changes are made as a result of
the redeterminations we process.
In addition, we are increasing the use and frequency of computer
matches with other Federal, State and local entities to detect
overpayments earlier. For example, last year SSA began a monthly matching
operation to detect nursing home admissions in all 50 States. Previously,
these matches occurred on an annual basis, and the database did not
contain data for all the States.
While computer matches help us detect inaccurate payments, we also will
continue efforts to provide our field offices with real-time access to
State databases that include wages, unemployment compensation, vehicle
ownership, and other information that will help us prevent overpayments
before they occur.
Safeguarding the Integrity of Disability Programs
While committed to providing timely and compassionate service to our
customers, SSA is equally committed to ensuring that only those
individuals who meet program eligibility requirements come onto the rolls
and that only those who continue to be disabled remain on the rolls. In
support of that objective, our budget plan calls for processing additional
CDRs in order to ensure program integrity, to rebuild public confidence in
our programs, and to carry out congressional mandates. We are confident
that our CDR strategy will lead to reliable and cost-effective monitoring
of the disability rolls.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Committee for providing
additional funds, through an adjustment to discretionary spending caps,
for this crucial workload. We are now in our fifth year of a seven-year
plan to become current in processing periodic CDRs and have made very good
progress towards our goal. In FY 1996, the first year of the plan, we
processed approximately .5 million CDRs. As of the end of FY 1999, we have
completed roughly 46 percent of our 7-year plan. With our FY 2000 budget
commitment of 1.8 million CDRs processed and our FY 2001 budget request
supporting the processing of another 1.7 million, we expect to meet the
commitment we made to become current by the end of FY 2002. SSA expects to
obligate about $650 million in FY 2001 to process periodic CDRs. This
includes $200 million base funding and an additional $450 million in
"above the cap" funding. Over the course of our 7-year plan, we expect, on
average, to realize lifetime program savings of at least $6 for every $1
in administrative cost.
Debt Collection
We strive to achieve high levels of payment accuracy in order to
minimize the amount of program dollars paid incorrectly. However, due to
the dynamics of our programs, it is inevitable that some debt will be
created. SSA's debt management program currently makes use of many of the
debt collection tools available under existing law, and we are in the
process of implementing the remainder.
In FY 1999, SSA collected more than $1.8 billion in debt. For FYs 2000
and 2001, SSA is developing two new debt collection tools: Mandatory Cross
Program Recovery and Administrative Wage Garnishment. We also plan to
develop the use of remaining debt collection authorities authorized by the
Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, such as extending to the SSI program
all of the debt collection authorities currently available for the
collection of overpayments under the OASDI program[t8].
Improving Administration of the Disability Programs
Improving administration of our Social Security and SSI disability
programs continues to be a priority for this Agency. This budget builds on
our efforts to improve disability program administration by continuing to
implement changes to the disability adjudication process, supporting our
Hearings Process Improvement initiative, and enhancing beneficiaries'
opportunity to work.
Improving the Disability Adjudication Process
After testing various process improvements over the past several years
and examining the results of the tests, we are prototyping the most
successful features of these process changes in 10 State Disability
Determination Services. The prototypes will improve the initial disability
adjudication process by:
- Providing greater decisional authority to disability examiners and
making more effective use of medical consultant expertise;
- Ensuring appropriate development and explanations in initial claims;
- Increasing claimant interaction with the decision maker; and
- Simplifying the appeals process by eliminating the reconsideration
step.
By taking this incremental approach, we will be able to assess more
effectively the operational effects of these process changes and refine
subsequent process improvements before moving to national implementation.
Hearings Process Improvement Initiative
Over the past several years, the Agency has taken steps to improve the
quality and timeliness of service provided during the hearing process. In
fact, in FY 1999 we reduced the number of hearings pending and decreased
the average number of days to receive a decision. However, I recognize
that further improvements are needed. Accordingly, in August 1999, I
released the Agency's Hearing Process Improvement (HPI) Plan. Its goal is
to reduce hearings processing time to less than 200 days in FY 2002, by
achieving administrative efficiencies, implementing group-based
accountability, and improving our automation and data collection-without
additional resources. HPI seeks to make hearings more timely, efficient,
and customer-focused. In January 2000, HPI was initiated in 37 hearing
offices in States that also were selected to prototype enhancements to the
initial disability process.
Appeals Council Process Improvement Plan
The Appeals Council provides the final level of administrative review
for claims under the Social Security Act. The Appeals Council is also
responsible for overseeing the preparation of the administrative record
filed in Federal court proceedings and for initiating further
administrative actions as required by those court proceedings. As a result
of its burgeoning workloads, processing times at the Appeals Council have
reached unacceptably high levels.
We have just released the Appeals Council Process Improvement Plan
which focuses on reducing pending workloads and processing times in the
near term and developing an operational structure that can continue to
deliver high-quality, timely and efficient case processing for the long
term. In the meantime, we have redirected resources in FY 2000 to help
deal with the Appeals Council backlog, and we have budgeted for a further
increase in FY 2001.
Enhancing Beneficiaries' Opportunities to Work
Last year's passage of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives
Improvement Act of 1999 further supports our efforts to enhance disability
beneficiaries' opportunities to work by providing a combination of
incentives and supports to individuals who want to work. This budget
requests $58 million in administrative funding directed to work incentive
activities, including:
- Program management contracts to administer the Ticket to Work and
Self-Sufficiency program;
- Establishment of a corps of SSA employment support specialists; and
- Implementation of work incentives planning, assistance and outreach
program grants.
SSA is proceeding to implement the legislation this year. The
President's budget for FY 2000 included some funding for work incentive
activities, but additional costs for implementing the new legislation are
being absorbed within the enacted appropriation for FY 2000.
Our Service Delivery Challenge
For several years, in response to a request from this Subcommittee,
SSA's annual budget has included specific workload and performance
commitments commensurate with the funding levels requested. I am pleased
to report that, in FY 1999, we met or exceeded our commitments for
800-number service calls handled and 5-minute access rate, periodic CDRs
processed, and SSI redeterminations processed. Although we did not meet
all of our ambitious disability and hearings commitments, we were able to
reduce hearings pending in FY 1999.
This year has been a particularly challenging one for SSA. In November
1999, the Congress passed an appropriation bill which reduced the
President's request for SSA's administrative costs by more than $200
million. I strongly supported the President's veto of that legislation,
which would have resulted in large disruptions in service and harm to
millions of elderly and disabled Americans who depend on our programs for
their support.
I was pleased that part of this reduction was restored, in part by
funding some unbudgeted cost increases with unspent money from FY 1999.
Still, when all was said and done, we wound up about $75 million short of
what was needed to meet our promised service commitments. The FY 2000
Operating Plan, submitted to the Subcommittee in January 2000, updated our
FY 2000 performance commitments to reflect the funding level appropriated
as well as unbudgeted cost increases. Compared to commitments based on the
FY 2000 President's budget funding level, our performance commitments for
800-number calls handled and 5-minute access rate were lowered, as were
estimates of disability claims and hearings processed and SSI
redeterminations completed.
The budget request before this Subcommittee provides for investment in
automation and other efficiencies that will enable us to process more work
in FY 2001 than in FY 2000, while maintaining most service levels in the
face of growing demands. However, this challenge will create stresses and
strains on all parts of the Agency as we strive to meet expectations,
while managing for results.
This budget request supports several initiatives, which are key to
providing world-class service and helping to shape an agency that works
better and costs less. Some examples of these initiatives include:
- Telephone Service: While the Agency has, for years, been considered
a leader in high-quality telephone service delivery, increasing demands
have made it more and more difficult to maintain that capability.
Despite budget resource limitations and expanding service demands, SSA
remains committed to taking proactive steps toward responding to
customer needs and expectations. This budget will support today's
telephone service through technological enhancements that will allow SSA
to manage call delivery better and more effectively direct calls to
agents with the skills to answer the caller's questions. This budget
will maintain telephone performance at the FY 2000 level in terms of the
volume of calls handled and the 5-minute access rate.
In addition, I plan to obtain a better understanding of what the
private sector is doing with their telephone services. Specifically, I
want to know what standards, other than access rates, private
organizations are emphasizing in measuring the quality of the telephone
service they provide, and what level of resources they make available
for doing so.
- Expand Electronic Service Delivery: A growing number of customers
want to conduct government business electronically as they become
accustomed to doing commercial business in this way. To provide
customer-responsive service, SSA must continue to carefully monitor the
ongoing shift in our customers' preferences and prepare to steadily
expand service delivery options in response to customer expectations.
Recently, SSA added two new online services, an electronic newsletter
that provides the latest Social Security information of public interest
and a new retirement planner that allows individuals to compute
estimates of their future Social Security retirement benefits. SSA will
continue efforts to increase the services offered electronically to
allow customers to complete their business with SSA at the initial point
of contact. Consistent with appropriate privacy/security safeguards, the
Agency will add online functionality incrementally. This will enable SSA
to improve customer service and realize some savings by increasing
access to public information and forms while developing more complex
online data collection and processing functions.
- Electronic Payment Services: SSA is continuing efforts to improve
benefit payment delivery services by increasing the number of benefits
paid by direct deposit. As of January 2000, 78 percent of the OASDI
beneficiary population participates in the direct deposit program. SSA
will continue to work with the Treasury Department to encourage the use
of direct deposit, or a number of alternatives for the remaining
beneficiaries who are receiving Social Security and SSI checks. In
addition, SSA is working to make Treasury's electronic transfer account
web site available in SSA field offices to better serve recipients who
inquire about their payment options.
Increasing Public Understanding
One of SSA's basic responsibilities is to ensure that the public is
informed about Social Security programs. Last year, we undertook a review
of our Social Security Statement and made significant revisions to provide
the American public with more simplified and understandable information
for use in planning for their retirement needs. In FY 2001, we will send a
total of 126 million statements, including one to each covered worker aged
25 and over not currently receiving benefits.
The Commissioner's Budget Request
Pursuant to the Committee's request, I will provide information on the
Commissioner's budget for FY 2001, consistent with the Independent Agency
statute. In this budget, I requested $7.466 billion for SSA's
administrative expenses, including $7.356 billion [t9]for the LAE account.
This budget funded a moderate increase in staffing for SSA and the State
Disability Determination Services (DDS), and creation of a Capital
Investment Fund. The staffing increase was for reducing postentitlement
backlogs, improving service levels in our field offices, hearing offices,
800-number operations, and in the DDSs; and implementing recent
legislation, mainly return to work.
The President's budget is the result of months of negotiations. The
President faces constraints that require him to choose among competing
priorities to keep the overall Federal budget in balance pending decisions
on the future of the nation's Social Security program. It is clear that
the President strongly supports SSA and its mission, including the
stabilized staffing reflected in his request. The President's budget was
arrived at with my support.
Other FY 2001 Appropriation Requests
In addition to LAE, we have four other requests before this Committee:
Office of the Inspector General, Supplemental Security Income, Special
Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners, and Payments to Social Security Trust
Funds. Social Security trust fund benefit payments are permanently
appropriated, and therefore are not part of the budget requests before
this Committee. I would like to turn now to a brief summary of these other
appropriation requests for FY 2001.
Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
$73 million for OIG - These funds will cover OIG's operating expenses,
including salaries for its staff and other costs such as rent and
supplies. We continue to make significant investments in the OIG as we
pursue our goal of zero tolerance for fraud and abuse in SSA programs.
Over the period FY 1995 to FY 2000, we have increased full-time permanent
staffing at the OIG from 242 to 579, more than doubling its capacity to
prevent, identify, prosecute and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. The
request for FY 2001 is an increase of more than 10 percent over last
year's level and will enable the OIG to maintain current service levels
and expand highly-effective initiatives, including: Cooperative Disability
Investigations Teams that investigate and prevent disability fraud; SSN
misuse pilot projects focused on investigating allegations of identity
theft; and the Fugitive Felon Project created to identify individuals
illegally receiving SSI benefits.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
$33.2 billion for the SSI Program - The SSI program ensures a minimum
monthly level of income to eligible aged, blind, and disabled individuals.
An individual's income, resources, and living arrangements are evaluated
in computing the actual amount of payment. This request includes almost
$30.5 billion for Federal benefit payments to more than 6.4 million aged,
blind and disabled beneficiaries; $2.6 billion in payments to reimburse
the Social Security trust funds for SSI administrative expenses; $71
million for beneficiary services; and $30 million for research and
demonstration projects.
Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners
$489.7 million for Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners - These
funds cover benefit payments and administrative expenses for that portion
of the Black Lung program for which SSA is responsible.
Payments to Social Security Trust Funds
$20.4 million for Payments to Social Security Trust Funds - This
request will serve to reimburse the Social Security trust funds for the
costs of certain benefits and administrative expenses properly charged to
Federal funds.
Supplemental Request for FY 2000
Before I conclude, I would like to take this moment to voice my support
for the President's $35 million FY 2000 supplemental appropriation request
for SSA to fund one-time costs for implementation of the Senior Citizens'
Freedom to Work Act of 2000. This legislation, signed by the President on
April 7, 2000, eliminates Social Security's Retirement Earnings Test for
retirees at or above normal retirement age, retroactive to January 1,
2000.[t10]
In addition, it is important that supplemental language be enacted, as
proposed by the President, to repeal the provision in the "Balanced Budget
Act of 1997" (BBA) that calls for the SSI benefit payment for October 2000
to be made on October 2, 2000 (FY 2001). Generally, SSI payments are made
on the first of the month, unless that day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or
holiday; in which case the payment reverts to the preceding Friday. The
BBA altered the regular procedure for this SSI payment in order to delay
it from Friday September 29, 2000 (FY 2000) to FY 2001. Restoring the
regular SSI payment date for October 2000 would help prevent hardship on
vulnerable SSI beneficiaries who may be depending on the regular payment
date in order to meet their expenses for food and shelter. [t11]
Conclusion
Social Security is the most successful domestic program in the nation's
history and arguably the single most effective anti-poverty program ever
created. It allows millions of people, who would otherwise suffer economic
devastation in old age, to live with dignity. Without Social Security,
one-half of today's elderly would be living in poverty. One of the top
priorities of the Administration is to continue the fiscal discipline of
the past seven years to help preserve and strengthen Social Security for
current and future generations.
SSA is considered by the public to be among the most responsive public
service agencies in government, and the recent Syracuse University report
indicates we are one of the best-managed as well. Critical successes
notwithstanding, we recognize both our continuing obligation to be
responsible and careful stewards of the programs we administer, and the
ongoing challenges in managing for results as we push the organization to
get our work accomplished.
The FY 2001 budget - including $7.134 billion for LAE, $73 million for
the Inspector General, and $30 million for research - will provide the
resources to help respond to these challenges. The increase in our
administrative budget request will support level full-time permanent
staffing and maintain most service levels in the face of growing demands,
as we work to ensure continuing economic security for all Americans,
improve program management, and meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Mr. Chairman, SSA's administrative budget is primarily the cost of its
employees. Our employees, wherever they are located, need to be reassured
that adequate resources are available to them to do their jobs completely.
I believe there is no more dedicated workforce than Social Security's.
Thank you for the opportunity to present SSA's budget request to this
Committee. I ask you to support this request and I welcome any questions
you may have.
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