Exhibit
1
Chronology
of SSA Events – 1993-2000
1993
January 22, 1993 Donna E. Shalala became Secretary of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
April 7, 1993 The 1993 Trustees Report showed the
date of the combined Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance
(OASDI) Trust Funds exhaustion as 2036.
June 22, 1993 SSA signed International Totalization
Agreement with Greece.
July 19, 1993 Dr. Lawrence Thompson appointed Acting
Commissioner of Social Security and Principal Deputy Commissioner
by HHS Secretary Shalala.
August 10, 1993 President Clinton signed the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66).
September 1993 SSA made the decision to reengineer the disability
process.
September 7, 1993 First report issued of Vice President
Al Gore’s National Performance Review.
September 15, 1993 President Clinton nominated Dr. Shirley
Sears Chater of Texas as Commissioner of Social Security.
October 1993 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for
benefits for December 1993 (paid in January 1994) was 2.6 percent.
October 7, 1993 The Senate
confirmed Dr. Chater as Commissioner of Social Security.
October 8, 1993 Shirley S. Chater became Commissioner
of Social Security.
November 24, 1993 President Clinton signed the Unemployment
Compensation Amendments of 1993 (P.L. 103-152).
1994
March 2, 1994 President Clinton appoints Alan “Scotty” Campbell
as Chairman of the bipartisan Commission on the Social Security
“Notch” Issue.
March 31, 1994 Proposal of the Disability Process Redesign
workgroup released to Commissioner Chater.
April 12, 1994 The 1994 Trustees Report showed the date
of the combined OASDI Trust Funds exhaustion as 2029.
May 17, 1994 SSA’s Internet site was launched on the World-Wide
Web (SSA Online at http://www.ssa.gov).
June 1994 Commissioner Chater appointed Judy L. Chesser
as Associate Commissioner for Legislation and Congressional Affairs.
She was later named as Deputy Commissioner for Legislation and Congressional
Affairs in March 1995 when SSA became an independent agency.
June 6, 1994 Vice President Gore
visited SSA headquarters to present SSA’s first Hammer Award for
its achievements in reinventing government.
June 9, 1994 The members of the 1994 Social Security
Advisory Council are named by HHS Secretary Shalala.
June 9, 1994 The Office of
Personnel Management presented the OPM Director’s Award to SSA for
outstanding work and family programs.
June 22, 1994 Commissioner Chater and American Federation
of Government Employees (AFGE) President John Sturdivant signed
the first national partnership agreement between SSA and AFGE.
This partnership agreement marked the beginning of a new culture
where labor and management shared accountability in accomplishing
the Agency’s mission of providing quality public service.
July 1994 Following publication in the Federal Register
and close of the public comment period, the final disability reengineering
redesign proposal was released to Commissioner Chater.
August 1994 Commissioner Chater appointed Dr. Susan M. Daniels
Associate Commissioner for Disability. She was later named
by Commissioner Apfel as Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Income
Security Programs in April 1998 under a reorganization of one program
and policy functions within SSA.
August 1994 Commissioner Chater appointed Carolyn W.
Colvin as Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs.
She was later named as Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Policy,
Evaluation and Communications in March 1955 when SSA became an independent
agency. Commissioner Apfel appointed Ms. Colvin as Deputy
Commissioner for Operations in April 1998.
August 15, 1994 President Clinton signed the Social Security
Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-296).
September 1994 Commissioner Chater appointed Brian Coyne
as SSA’s Chief of Staff.
September 1994 Commissioner Chater approved the disability-reengineering
redesign and the final plan was released.
October 1994 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for benefits
for December 1994 (paid in January 1995) was 2.8 percent.
October 1994 Lori L. Hansen was appointed by the Senate to serve
on the Social Security Advisory Board. Her term is from October
1994 to September 2000.
October 1994 Carolyn L. Weaver was appointed by the Senate
to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board. Her term is
from October 1994 to September 1997.
October 22, 1994 President Clinton signed the Social
Security Domestic Employment Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-387).
October 31, 1994 President Clinton signed the Social
Security Act Amendments of 1994 (P.L. 103-432).
November 1994 Arthur “Pete” Singleton was appointed
by the House to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board.
His term was from November 1994 to October 1998. Mr. Singleton
resigned in October 1996 to be the Majority Staff Director, House
Ways and Means Committee.
November 1994 Martha Keys was appointed by the House
to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board. Her term was
from November 1994 to September 1999.
November 15, 1994 President Clinton nominated Shirley Chater
to serve a six-year term as Commissioner of the independent SSA.
December 1994 Commissioner
Chater appointed Joan E. Wainwright as Associate Commissioner for
Public Affairs. She was later named as Associate Commissioner
for Communications in March 1995 when SSA became an independent
agency, and then as Deputy Commissioner for Communications in June
1996 when the Office of Communications reported directly to the
Commissioner of SSA.
December 31, 1994 The bipartisan
Commission on the Social Security “Notch” Issue released its report:
"Final Report on the Social Security 'Notch' Issue.” The
central finding of the Commission was that benefits paid to those
in the 'Notch' years were equitable, and no remedial legislation
was in order.
1995
February 1995 SSA’s first General
Business Plan published.
February 16, 1995 A confirmation
hearing was held before the Senate Finance Committee on Commissioner
Chater’s nomination to serve a six-year term as Commissioner of
Social Security. The Committee did not take any action on
her nomination.
March 31, 1995 The Social
Security Administration became an independent agency.
April 3, 1995 The 1995 Trustees
Report showed the date of the combined OASDI Trust Funds exhaustion
as 2030, a gain of one year from the year before.
April 1995 Commissioner Chater
appointed Arthur J. Fried as General Counsel.
April 1995 Dalbar Financial
Services, Inc., a source for information on customer service initiatives
and trends rated SSA’s telephone service representatives 1st
in Accommodations, Attitude, Knowledge, and Ring Time in its World
Class Benchmarking study. Other companies in the study were
AT&T Universal Credit Cards, Disney Companies , Federal Express,
L.L Bean, Nordstrom, The Saturn Corporation, Southwest Airlines,
and Xerox.
April 13, 1995 President
Clinton appointed the Commissioner of Social Security to be a member
of his Domestic Policy Council.
April 19, 1995 The Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was bombed, killing
168 individuals, including 16 SSA employees.
July 20, 1995 Dr.
Marilyn Moon and Stephen G. Kellison, who were nominated by President
Clinton, were confirmed by the Senate to serve four-year terms as
Public Trustee of the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance
trust funds. Their terms began on July 20, 1995.
August 1995 The President uses “recess appointment”
to appoint former U.S. Senator Harlan Mathews to serve on the Social
Security Advisory Board from January 1996 to January 1997.
He served as Chair of the Board. Senator Mathews declined
the resubmission of his nomination.
August 1995 The President uses “recess appointment”
to appoint Gerald M. Shea to the Social Security Advisory Board
from January 1996 to January 1997.
August 1995 The President uses “recess appointment” to appoint
William C. Brooks as a Presidential recess appointee to the Social
Security Advisory Board from January 1996 to September 1996.
August 10, 1995 President Clinton nominated Linda Colvin
Rhodes of Pennsylvania to be Deputy Commissioner of Social
Security.
August 10, 1995 President Clinton nominated David Williams
to be Inspector General at SSA.
August 14, 1995 A series of public service announcements was launched
by Commissioner Chater to educate the public about the value of
Social Security benefits at a ceremony held at the National Press
Club in Washington, D.C. Commissioner Chater was joined by
First Lady Hillary Clinton and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in
celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Social Security.
October 1995 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for benefits
for December 1995 (paid in January 1996) was 2.6 percent.
October 19, 1995 A Memorial Garden was dedicated in
front of SSA headquarters in Baltimore, MD, to commemorate the SSA
employees who lost their lives in the Oklahoma City bombing.
November 14, 1995 Government-wide shutdown began, which
lasted until November 20th.
December 12, 1995 SSA held
Hammer Award Ceremony for 14 teams, workgroups, or projects.
December 16, 1995 Second Government shutdown began,
which lasted until January 6th.
December 22, 1995 David Williams was confirmed by the
Senate as Inspector General at SSA.
December 31, 1995 Lawrence Thompson resigned as Principal
Deputy Commissioner and took a position with the Urban Institute.
1996
January 3, 1996 Commissioner Chater named John R. Dyer
as Acting Principal Deputy Commissioner.
January 23, 1996 Claims Representative Richard Dean,
an SSA employee who survived the Oklahoma City bombing, was invited
to sit with Mrs. Clinton during the President’s annual State of
the Union Address. The President introduced Mr. Dean in the course
of his remarks.
February 9, 1996 First meeting of the new SSA Advisory Board was
held in Baltimore.
February 28, 1996 Commissioner Chater announced a set
of policy changes to improve the effectiveness of the Plans for
Achieving Self-Support (PASS) feature of the SSI program.
The changes grew out of a SSA workgroup report, along with audit
reports by the General Accounting Office, SSA’s Inspector General,
and SSA’s Office of Program and Integrity Reviews.
March 1996 Commissioner Chater appointed D. Dean Mesterharm
as Deputy Commissioner for Systems.
March 5, 1996 Commissioner Chater and AFGE President John
Sturdivant signed a national partnership agreement between AFGE
and SSA effective March 5, 1996.
March 11, 1996 Linda Colvin Rhodes, nominated
to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security, withdrew from consideration.
The Senate had taken no action on the nomination.
March 11, 1996 Commissioner Chater announced that SSA
agreed to settle the case of Hart vs. Chater in which a child,
conceived through artificial means after the death of her father,
was previously denied survivors benefits. SSA’s position was
that the settlement was not precedent-setting.
March 21, 1996 SSA launched its Interactive Video Teletraining
(IVT) System with an inaugural broadcast to the International Distance
Learning Conference in Crystal City, Virginia. SSA planned
to use IVT to replace most of its in-person training in order to
save money on travel and related training expenses.
March 25-27, 1996 A government-wide conference on “reinventing
government” was held in Bethesda, Maryland. Vice President
Gore was the keynote speaker. He singled-out SSA’s 800-number
for praise for its highly rated service.
March 29, 1996 President Clinton signed the Contract
With America Advancement Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-121).
April 1996 SSA received Hammer
Award for the Birmingham Telephone Claims unit.
April 15, 1996 The Social Security Advisory Council held
its final public meeting in Washington, D.C.
April 24, 1996 SSA published final rules in the Federal Register
that established procedures under which SSA may impose civil monetary
penalties on any Social Security or SSI applicant or beneficiary
who makes a false statement in order to obtain benefits. This
civil authority is in addition to any criminal penalties that may
apply, and is a new power granted to SSA under Section 206(b) of
the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act
of 1994.
April 26, 1996 President Clinton signed the Omnibus Consolidated
Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-134).
April 28-29, 1996 The Social Security Representative
Payment Advisory Committee met at SSA headquarters in Baltimore
to discuss recommendations for changes in representative payee policies
and procedures.
June 5, 1996 The 1996 Trustees Report showed the date
of the combined OASDI Trust Funds exhaustion as 2029, a gain of
one year from last year.
June 7, 1996 Termination notices began going out to
220,000 Social Security and SSI disability beneficiaries who were
receiving benefits due to drug addiction or alcoholism. Under
the law, these benefits were to be stopped by January 1, 1997.
June 14, 1996 SSA awarded its IWS/LAN
computer systems contract to the Unisys Corporation. The initial
award was for $185,195,445 with a projected seven-year value of
$279,596,486. The contract provides for the acquisition of
all equipment needed to support a base quantity of 925 Local Area
Networks (LANs), with an optional quantity of an additional 817
LANs.
June 20-22, 1996 SSA’s Advisory Committees for Black,
Hispanic, Pacific Asian, Women, and Employees with Disabilities
held their first joint “diversity conference” in Miami, Florida.
August 22, 1996 President Clinton signed the “Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.”
This “welfare reform” legislation terminated SSI eligibility for
most non-citizens and made more stringent the standards for children
to receive SSI disability benefits.
September 5, 1996 SSA Hammer Award Ceremony for 13 teams
or projects.
September 12, 1996 SSA received the “ Best in Class
“ award at the Internet Commerce Expo (sponsored by Computer World
Magazine) in the Government/Public Administration category for its
implementation of the Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement
(PEBES).
September 30, 1996 President Clinton signed An Act
making omnibus consolidated appropriations for FY 1997 (P.L.
104-208). This law included SSA’s FY 1997 appropriations and
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
of 1996.
October 1996 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for benefits
for December 1996 (paid in January 1997) was 2.9 percent.
November 5, 1996 Commissioner Shirley S. Chater submitted
her resignation to President Clinton, effective January 31, 1997.
She extended her effective date to February 28, 1997, at the request
of the President. She took a position as Regents Professor
in the University of California System.
November 7, 1996 The Representative Payee Advisory Committee
submitted its final report to the Commissioner. The Committee,
composed of outside experts, made 25 specific recommendations for
improving SSA’s administration of the representative payee function.
November 25, 1996 SSA’s Office of the Inspector General
opened a Social Security Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271.
December 1996 The SSA field office structure was revised.
The new structure eliminated the District Office, Branch Office,
and Resident Station designations. All sites were redesignated
as Level 1, 2, 3, or 4 Social Security Field Offices. As of
that point, there were a total of 1,352 "Social Security Field
Offices."
1997
January 6, 1997 The Social Security Advisory Council
released its report. The Council offered three options for changing
Social Security: (1) a Maintain Benefits plan; (2) an Individual
Accounts plan; and (3) a Personal Savings Account plan.
January 13, 1997 SSA received Hammer Award for the Direct
Services Unit (redeployment of personnel).
February 11, 1997 SSA’s proposed regulations implementing
the changes to the childhood disability standards were published
in the Federal Register.
February 11, 1997 SSA’s proposed final regulations for
cycling of benefit payments were published.
February 26, 1997 President Clinton named Dr. John J.
Callahan to be Acting Commissioner of Social Security effective
March 1, 1997. Dr. Callahan was the HHS Assistant Secretary
for Management and Budget at the time of his appointment.
He served as Acting Commissioner until September 29, 1997.
March 1997 The Social Security Advisory Board issued its
first formal report, entitled "Developing Social Security
Policy: How the Social Security Administration Can Provide Greater
Policy Leadership."
March 1997 Jo Anne Barnhart was appointed by the House
to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board. Her term is
from March 1997 to September 1998. Ms. Barnhart replaced Arthur
“Pete” Singleton who resigned to accept a position of staff director
on the House Ways & Means Committee.
March 1997 Acting Commissioner Callahan appointed Paul Barnes
as Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources.
April 2, 1997 SSA announced new rules in the Federal Register
that eliminated the Annual Earnings Reports previously required
from retirees under age 70 who are still working. SSA will now use
information from the W2 reports or tax records to track the earnings
levels of working beneficiaries.
April 9, 1997 SSA announced that it was temporarily suspending
its Online Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES)
service over the Internet due to questions raised in the news media
about the security and privacy of the records. Following the publication
of the news stories on April 7th, SSA experienced a surge in traffic
to its Internet site that at its peak included 600 requests per
second.
April 10, 1997 Acting Commissioner John J. Callahan announced
that SSA would hire 150 former welfare recipients each year for
four years as SSA's contribution to the President's welfare reform
initiatives.
April 24, 1997 The 1997 Trustees Report showed the date of the
combined OASDI Trust Funds exhaustion as 2029, the same as last
year.
May 1997 The cycling of Social Security benefit payments
began for June 1997 checks.
May 1997 SSA received Hammer
Award for the Ft. Myers Team Experiment that involved a union and
management agreement to delegate authority to employees.
May 23, 1997 President Clinton nominated Kenneth S. Apfel to serve
as the 13th Commissioner of Social Security. Mr. Apfel was
the Associate Director for Human Resources at OMB at the time of
his nomination. Prior to that, he was HHS’s Assistant Secretary
for Management and Budget.
May 30, 1997 The first Annual Report of the Supplemental
Security Income Program was released to President Clinton and
to the Congress. In the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Congress required
the Commissioner of Social Security to report annually on the status
of the SSI program. In January 1997, 6.3 million individuals
received Federal SSI payments averaging $342 per month. Federal
expenditures for cash payments under the SSI program during calendar
1996 totaled $26.5 billion, and the cost of administering the SSI
program in FY 1996 was $2.0 billion.
June 23, 1997 Hammer Award Ceremony for
25 units, teams, or projects was held at SSA’s headquarters.
August 5, 1997 President Clinton signed H.R. 2015, “The
Balanced Budget Act of 1997,” into law. This law restores
SSI eligibility to certain cohorts of non-citizens whose eligibility
otherwise would be terminated under the “welfare reform” of 1996.
September 1997 SSA issued a report, Options for Enhancing
the Social Security Card. The report was requested by
Congress in the welfare and immigration reform laws (P.L. 104-193
and P.L. 104-208, respectively) passed in 1996.
September 2, 1997 President Clinton nominated Jane G.
Gould of New York to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.
September 4, 1997 Acting Commissioner John Callahan
released the report of the study of SSA’s online PEBES service and
announced the Agency’s decision to make the service available again
beginning in January 1998. The new version of the service
will have additional security and privacy safeguards. Earnings
information will no longer be provided online (only benefit estimates)
and a personal code will be needed to receive the benefit estimate.
September 8-12, 1997 SSA's first National Anti-Fraud
Conference was held in Baltimore. The theme of the conference
was New Approaches in a New Environment. Over 450 SSA employees
attended the Conference along with officials from the General Accounting
Office and State disability determination units.
September 19, 1997 Kenneth S. Apfel was unanimously
confirmed by the Senate as SSA’s 13th Commissioner and
first Commissioner of the Independent Agency.
September 23, 1997 Former Commissioner of Social Security
Stanford G. Ross was nominated by the President and confirmed by
the Senate to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board from October
1997 to September 2002. President Clinton named him as Chair
of the Board.
September 29, 1997 Kenneth Apfel became the Commissioner
of Social Security. A formal swearing-in ceremony was held
at SSA Headquarters. Outgoing Acting Commissioner Callahan
conducted the swearing-in, and Franklin Raines, Director of the
Office of Management and Budget represented the White House.
October 1997 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for benefits
for December 1997 (paid in January 1998) was 2.1 percent.
October 2, 1997 Commissioner Apfel formally released the
new strategic plan, Keeping the Promise: Strategic Plan 19972002,
to the Agency's senior staff and announced his intention to use
the plan as the foundation of SSA's decisionmaking for the future.
December 1, 1997 World AIDS
Day—The Commissioner affirmed SSA’s commitment to working with many
AIDS advocacy groups to ensure that people affected by HIV/AIDS
were educated about Social Security programs for which they may
be eligible.
December 16, 1997 Commissioner
Apfel announced, that in response to President Clinton’s commitment
to making modern computer technology an integral part of every classroom
in America, SSA donated over 600 surplus computers to schools across
the USA to kick-off their “Computers for Kids” program.
December 17, 1997 Commissioner Apfel announced the results
of his “top to bottom” review of the SSI childhood disability determination
process.
January 27, 1998 In his State of the Union address President
Clinton emphasized the central task of addressing the solvency of
the Social Security program. He stated his view that any budget
surplus should not be used in any way until we "Save Social
Security First."
February 9, 1998 President Clinton delivered a major address
on Social Security at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
as the unofficial launch of the year-long process of discussing
the future of Social Security.
February 18, 1998 Notices were sent to 86,000 families whose
child, or children, previously lost SSI eligibility under the Welfare
Reform law. The notices provide a second opportunity to either
request an appeal or to request payment continuation during appeal.
This is one of the actions flowing out of Commissioner Apfel's review
of the childhood disability program and announced in his December
1997 report.
March 13, 1998 Jane G. Gould, nominated to be the Deputy
Commissioner of Social Security, withdrew from consideration.
The Senate had taken no action on the nomination.
April 7, 1998 President Clinton participated in the first
of the three national forums on Social Security (The Great Social
Security Debate). The forum was held on the campus of Penn
Valley Community College in Kansas City, Missouri.
April 12, 1998 Commissioner Apfel appointed Dr. Jane
L. Ross as Deputy Commissioner for Policy.
April 16, 1998 SSA published in the Federal Register a notice
requesting applications for a cooperative agreement to establish
a Retirement Research Consortium based in two universities and supporting
SSA's policy development process.
April 30, 1998 The 1998 Trustees Report showed the date
of the combined OASDI Trust Funds exhaustion as 2032, a gain of
three years from last year.
May 1998 Commissioner Apfel appointed Yvette S. Jackson
as Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment and Management.
May 6, 1998 SSA published a final regulation in the Federal
Register governing procedures for acquiescing in circuit court decisions
which conflict with the Agency's interpretation of the Act or regulations.
May 29, 1998 SSA released its second Annual Report of
the Supplemental Security Income Program. In January 1998, 6.2
million individuals received monthly Federal SSI payments averaging
$335. Federal expenditures for cash payments under the
SSI program during calendar 1997 totaled $26.7 billion, and the
cost of administering the SSI program in FY 1997 was $2.1 billion.
June 22, 1998 President Clinton issued an order directing
SSA to cooperate with other federal agencies in a concerted effort
to promote utilization of the Children's Health Insurance Program
(CHIP) enacted into law in 1997. Among other things, SSA will
distribute information and application forms in its local field
offices.
July 1, 1998 Vice President Gore participated in the
second national forum on Social Security held in Providence, RI.
July 6, 1998 President Clinton launched a new campaign to
ensure that eligible Medicare beneficiaries are informed about the
Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) provisions of the law, which
pays Medicare premiums for poor beneficiaries. SSA and HHS
will have joint responsibility for a massive public information
and outreach campaign.
July 27, 1998 President Clinton hosted the third national
forum on the future of Social Security held in Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
August 12, 1998 SAP America/Stevie
Wonder Vision Awards Program recognized SSA as the winner of the
Siemens Award Of Excellence and received $35,000 for its technology
infrastructure to support visually impaired employees.
August 12, 1998 SSA received
the Hammer Award for the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) Screening
unit.
August 13, 1998 SSA hosted its "One
America" diversity conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
The program included prominent
speakers, workshops and exhibits, providing valuable information
about customer service, professional skills, career planning, personal
motivation and technological advances.
September 9, 1998 SSA received the John Sturdivant National
Partnership Award.
September 24, 1998 SSA held a Hammer Award Ceremony
for nine teams or projects.
October 1998 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for benefits
for December 1998 (paid in January 1999) was 1.3 percent.
October 1998 Jo Anne Barnhart was appointed by the House
to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board. Her term is
from October 1998 to September 2004. This is Ms. Barnhart’s
second term on the Board.
October 2, 1998 SSA announced the selection of two university
research consortiums to be participants in SSA's Retirement Research
Consortium (SRRC). The two lead universities are Boston College
and the University of Michigan, in partnership with 13 additional
collaborators.
October 9, 1998 SSA published its first SSI Management Report
assessing the management challenges facing the program and what
SSA is doing to meet them.
October 27, 1998 As part of the national discussion
on Social Security, the President hosted a roundtable discussion
on women and retirement security at the White House on October 27.
The White House released a paper, Women and Retirement Security
at this event which details some basic facts on women and retirement,
including the importance of Social Security.
October 28, 1998 President Clinton signed the Noncitizen Benefit
Clarification and Other Technical Amendment Act of 1998 (P.L.
105-306).
November 4, 1998 Vice President
Gore announced a new federal policy designed to make it easier for
victims of domestic violence to obtain new Social Security numbers.
November 16, 1998 SSA launched a new pilot project allowing
people to apply for retirement or survivors benefits through SSA's
800 number telephone service.
November 16, 1998 SSA mailed the 50 millionth Personal Earnings
and Benefit Estimate Statement (PEBES) since it began issuing them.
December 34, 1998 SSA, in conjunction with Howard University,
held a twoday symposium in Washington, D.C. on the SSI program,
focusing on future demographic trends and their effects on the program.
December 89, 1998 The first ever White House Conference
on Social Security was held in Washington, D.C.
December 28, 1998 President Clinton announced that SSA's
computer systems were fully Y2K compliant.
1999
January 1999 The percentage of beneficiaries receiving their
payments by direct deposit hit 75 percent, with 15 States having
rates over 80 percent.
January 13, 1999 President Clinton announced a set of disability
initiatives aimed at removing barriers for people with disabilities
that want to return to work.
January 19, 1999 In his State of the Union Address, President
Clinton laid out his proposal to “Save Social Security First.”
He proposed transferring 62 percent of the unified budget surpluses
to Social Security over the next 15 years; saving 15 percent of
the surpluses to shore up Medicare; and investing 12 percent of
the surpluses into new Universal Savings Accounts as additions to
Social Security. He also called for repeal of the Retirement Earnings
Test.
February 1, 1999 SSA given an "A" rating in management
performance by the Government Performance Project of the Maxwell
School at Syracuse University (only Federal agency to receive an
“A”).
February 12, 1999 Vice President Gore and Commissioner Apfel
announced, at an event in Albany, N. Y., a proposal for the first
increase in the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level since 1990.
They proposed raising the SGA amount from $500 a month to $700 a
month, reflecting the level of growth in average wages.
March 3, 1999 The House of Representatives passed H.J. Res.
32, a sense of Congress resolution, by a vote of 416 to 1.
This nonbinding resolution put the House on record as supporting
an initiative to strengthen and protect the Social Security program
for the 21st century.
March 11, 1999 SSA issued a comprehensive disability
program management plan Social Security and Supplemental Security
Income Disability Programs: Managing for Today Planning for
Tomorrow.
April 12, 1999 The 1999 Trustees Report showed the
date of the combined OASDI Trust Fund exhaustion as 2034, a gain
of two years from last year.
May 46, 1999 SSA held its 1999 National AntiFraud Conference
in Baltimore. This conference was part of an increased emphasis
on program integrity issues.
May 5, 1999 The first 450 resettled refugees from Kosovo landed
at McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey. Among those processing
the new arrivals were SSA employees who were taking Social Security
number applications and assessing them for potential future SSI
applications.
May 11, 1999 The Chairman and Ranking Member of the House
Social Security Subcommittee notified SSA that its Fiscal Year 2000
Performance Plan ranks among the highest in government with a score
of 84.5 out of a possible 100.
May 2021, 1999 SSA's Retirement Research Consortium held
its first annual Conference in Washington, D.C. to report on the
initial set of research findings under this project.
May 24, 1999 A unanimous Supreme Court ruled, in the
case of Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems, that the
provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the
requirements for Social Security disability benefits are not incompatible
and that filing a disability claim does not bar a person from seeking
relief under ADA provisions. This ruling was consistent with
the position SSA and the Administration had taken on the issue.
May 28, 1999 SSA released its third Annual Report
of the Supplemental Security Income Program. In January 1999,
6.3 million individuals received monthly Federal SSI payments averaging
$341. Federal expenditures for cash payments under the SSI
program during calendar 1998 totaled $27.7 billion, and the cost
of administering the SSI program in FY 1998 was $2.3 billion.
June 7, 1999 The White House Conference on Mental Health
was held. President Clinton directed OPM to achieve
mental health and substance abuse parity in the FEHB Program for
contract year 2001. The Clinton/Gore Administration announced
a historic 5-year $10 million Affective Disorder Demonstration Project
at the SSA to help people with mental Illnesses return to work.
Vice President Gore announced SSA would offer up to 1,000 Social
Security Disability beneficiaries with affective disorders the opportunity
to participate in the project to test improved treatments that could
result in better functioning and a return to the workforce.
June 15, 1999 The Americans Discuss Social Security project
of the Pew Charitable Trust gave its Final Report to Commissioner
Apfel.
June 28, 1999 SSA Hammer Award Ceremony for 11 teams or projects.
July 19, 1999 SSA completed Phase I of its Intelligent Workstation/Local
Area Network (IWS/LAN) computer modernization effort. This
project, one of the largest information technology projects ever
undertaken by the federal government, placed more than 75,000 workstations
and 1,742 LANs in SSA and State DDS facilities around the country.
July 26, 1999 Commissioner Apfel announced in “SSA News
Bytes” that the Office of Communications had received
two Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
for the public service ad—The Future of Social Security.
July 29, 1999 President Clinton nominated James G. Huse,
Jr. to be the Inspector General at SSA.
August 5, 1999 SSA released its Hearing Process Improvement
Plan to improve the hearing process, with a specific objective of
reducing processing times from a projected level of 313 days in
FY 1999, to less than 200 days in FY 2002.
September 30, 1999 Commissioner
Apfel announced that the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign
was selected to participate in the Social Security Administration’s
Disability Research Institute. The Five-year program will
provide $1.25 million in funding to the university in the first
year.
September 30, 1999 SSA awarded a contract to begin development
of an Electronic Death Registration process. The goal is to
develop systems that will allow the States to transmit death reports
to SSA electronically.
October 1999 The automatic cost-of-living (COLA) for benefits
for December 1999 (paid in January 2000) was 2.4 percent. The 2000
COLA will be 3.5 percent.
October 1999 Martha Keys was appointed by the House to serve
on the Social Security Advisory Board. Her term is from October
1999 to September 2005. This is Ms. Keys second term.
October 1999 SSA received Hammer Award for the “Atlanta
One-Stop.”
October 1, 1999 President Clinton nominated William A. Halter
of Arkansas to be the Deputy Commissioner at SSA.
October 1, 1999 SSA began mailing 125 million Social Security
Statements to all workers 25 years of age or older. Statements
will now be sent on an annual basis.
October 8, 1999 The Federal Record Service Corporation (FRSC)
agreed in a court settlement to cease its activities and to pay
substantial financial penalties. FRSC had been charging the public
for the same Social Security card services SSA provides for free.
October 20, 1999 As part of President
Clinton's Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities,
SSA and the Small Business Administration signed a partnership agreement
to help adults with disabilities find gainful employment or become
entrepreneurs. Vice President Al Gore witnessed the signing
ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building.
November 10, 1999 The Senate, by unanimous consent, confirmed
the appointments of William A. Halter to be Deputy Commissioner
of Social Security for the term expiring January 19, 2001 and James
G. Huse, Jr. to be Inspector General of the Social Security Administration.
November 15, 1999 SSA released its Report on Initiatives
to Improve National 800 Number and Program Service Center Service
to the Public.
November 18, 1999 SSA hosted its first Electronic Service
Conference and Exposition at SSA headquarters in Baltimore.
November 22, 1999 William A. Halter was sworn in as Deputy
Commissioner of Social Security.
November 22, 1999 James G. Huse, Jr., was sworn in as Inspector
General of Social Security.
December 13, 1999 The University
of Michigan announced that the Social Security Administration received
a score of 82 in the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index
Survey (ACSI). This score is one of the highest earned by
participating Federal government agencies and 10 points higher than
the comparable private sector index.
December 14, 1999 President Clinton signed the Foster
Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169).
December 17, 1999 President Clinton signed the Ticket
to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170).
The legislation is the most significant change in disability policy
since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
The signing ceremony took place at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Memorial in Washington, D.C.
2000
February 2000 SSA's Internet service, SSA Online, reached
the rank of #10 on the list of most frequently visited federal government
Web sites.
February 15, 2000 SSA launched its Electronic Newsletter
(eNews) through which visitors are able to subscribe to Social
Security enews, a monthly electronic newsletter providing brief
items on the latest Social Security information of public interest.
February 16, 2000 SSA signed International Totalization
Agreement with Chile, the first such agreement with a South American
country.
March 13, 2000 SSA signed International Totalization Agreement
with Korea, the first such agreement with an Asian country.
March 14, 2000 SSA posted on its Web site the new Appeals
Council Process Improvement Action Plan, an outline of shortterm
initiatives to improve processing of the Appeals Council review
of hearing decisions.
March 14, 2000 Results from SSA's annual customer satisfaction
survey showed significant improvement in ratings for Fiscal Year
(FY) 1999 from FY 1998. Overall satisfaction with SSA’s service
rose to 88 percent, up from 82 percent in FY 1998. Also, 44
percent of the respondents rated service “excellent,” up from 30
percent last year.
March 14-16, 2000 SSA sponsored
the National American Indian – Alaska Native Conference in Denver,
Colorado.
March 30, 2000 The 2000 Trustees Report showed the date of
the combined OASDI Trust Fund exhaustion as 2037, a gain of three
years from last year.
April 2000 SSA issued its FY 2001 Government Performance
and Results Act Annual Performance Plan and Revised Final FY 2000
Performance Plan.
April 6, 2000 Commissioner Apfel, and AFGE President Bobby
Harnage, signed a new fouryear collective bargaining contract.
April 7, 2000 President Clinton signed the Senior Citizens’
Freedom to Work Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-182) at a White House
Ceremony. The Act eliminated the Retirement Earnings Test
for beneficiaries at or above Normal Retirement Age.
April 7, 2000 SSA launched its electronic Retirement Planner
as part of its Internet services. The Planner was announced by President
Clinton at the signing ceremony for the repeal of the retirement
earnings test included in the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work
Act of 2000.
May 19, 2000 SSA’s Office of Communications issued its
Communications Report on strategies to improve the effectiveness
of SSA’s efforts to educate the public about the Social Security
program.
May 30, 2000 SSA released its fourth Annual Report
of the Supplemental Security Income Program. In January
2000, 6.3 million individuals received monthly Federal SSI payments
averaging $350. Federal expenditures for cash payments under
the SSI program during calendar 1999 totaled $27.7 billion, and
the cost of administering the SSI program in FY 1999 was $2.5 billion.
June 2000 SSA was successful in obtaining $35
million in supplemental funding to upgrade personal computers for
Agency employees.
June 13, 2000 SSA announced it is partnering with Commerce
Net, a nonprofit consortium, to test a variety of Internet technologies
to determine if they can be used by the agency to enhance customer
service.
June 15, 2000 SSA held Hammer Award Ceremony for six
SSA special teams.
July 2000 SSA received the Pioneer Award for Access
American for Seniors from the E-gov 2000 Selection Committee.
July 11, 2000 SSA launched a new interactive application
on its Internet site allowing Medicare beneficiaries to apply for
a replacement Medicare card online.
July 24, 2000 Formal swearing in and first meeting of the
President's Work Incentives Advisory Panel.
July 26, 2000 President Clinton announced three new regulatory
proposals to: (1) raise the SGA level automatically each year based
on increases in the national average wage index; (2) increase the
Trial Work Period amount from $200 to $530 a month and provide automatic
yearly increases; (3) allow disabled students receiving SSI to exclude
more income before their benefits are affected (more than triple
the current amount). The changes were announced at a ceremony
commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the signing of
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
August 4, 2000 President Clinton released a special
statement in acknowledgement of the 65th anniversary
of the Social Security Act.
August 5, 2000 SSA, in partnership with the Franklin
Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York, hosted
a special commemorative program in honor of the 65th
anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act at the FDR
Library grounds.
August 14, 2000 Commissioner Apfel dedicated a 65th
Anniversary Garden on the grounds of SSA headquarters in Baltimore.
August 31, 2000 Based on data from the Bureau of the Public
Debt, the invested assets of the combined OASI and DI Trust Funds
topped $1 trillion.
September 2000 Agency launches
SSA’s Mandate Against Red-Tape (SMART) initiative, in accordance
with President Clinton’s April 21, 1998 memorandum on Streamlining
the Granting of Waivers.
September 7, 2000 Commissioner Apfel announced the release
of SSA's 2010 Vision document, charting the strategic changes
ahead for SSA in the next decade.
September 14, 2000 SSA launched
its year 2000 “Computers for Kids” campaign by donating 6,000
computers to Baltimore, MD city schools. The Commissioner
announced that SSA would donate over 30,000 computers and equipment
to public schools and educationally-related non-profit institutions
nationwide during the next five months in conjunction with President
Clinton’s Digital Divide Initiative.
September 22, 2000 The Government
Executive Magazine awarded SSA’s Inmate Project the 2000 Government
Technology Leadership Award for automating the receipt and processing
of inmate reports.
October 2000 Gerald M. Shea, who was nominated by President
Clinton, was confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Social Security
Advisory Board. His term is from October 2000 to September
2004. Mr. Shea previously served a recess appointment on the
Board.
October 2000 Mark A. Weinberger, who was nominated by President
Clinton, was confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Social Security
Advisory Board. His term is from October 2000 to September
2006.
October 2000 David Podoff was appointed by the Senate to
serve on the Social Security Advisory Board. His term is from
October 2000 to September 2006. He replaced Lori Hansen on the Board.
October 3, 2000 Commissioner Apfel announced that when
his term expires in January 2001 he would leave government to take
a position with the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University
of Texas in Austin. Commissioner Apfel will hold the Sid Richardson
Chair in Public Affairs, a position previously held by Wilbur Cohen,
one of Social Security's most important pioneers.
October 12, 2000 SSA announced that its expanded online Benefits
Planner now includes information on disability and survivors’ benefits,
as well as retirement benefits.
October 25, 2000 President Clinton announced that SSA is
awarding $8 million in grants to 43 non-profit organizations and/or
state agencies in 26 states and two territories to provide benefit
planning, assistance and outreach for persons with disabilities
who are attempting to return to work. These grants are part of The
Ticket to Work initiative.
October 28, 2000 President Clinton signed the Victims
of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386).
October 28, 2000 Dr. John L. Palmer and Dr. Thomas R.
Saving, who were nominated by President Clinton, were confirmed
by the Senate to serve four-year terms as Public Trustee of the
Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance trust funds. Their
terms began on October 28, 2000.
November 2, 2000 SSA Deputy Commissioner Halter announced
the availability of SSA's new online application process for Social
Security retirement claims. He also announced that SSA’s 800-number
telephone system would now take immediate retirement claims.
November 30, 2000 Commissioner Apfel announced that
SSA has received the Certificate of Excellence in Accountability
Reporting for its FY 1999 Accountability Report.
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