On January 5, President Biden will sign the Social Security Fairness Act, which will provide about a year of new or additional Social Security benefits. 3 million An individual who receives a state pension from a job that is not covered by Social Security. Although criticized by liberal, centrist and conservative Social Security policy experts say the bill is popular among elected officials. cleared The House and Senate have bipartisan majorities.
President-elect Trump too supported It will then be up to his administration to actually implement the new benefits structure. This will be difficult, in part because the legislative process leading up to the law's implementation has been chaotic.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Garrett Graves (R-Louisiana) two years ago, but received limited attention until last fall. Mr. Graves circumvented the committee structure and normal process. The application for discharge was successful. The bill was brought to the floor for a vote last September. This caused controversy among Graves' fellow Republicans, some of whom attempted to introduce the bill in a sparsely attended House formal session.
The Senate ultimately received The bill was passed in late November, but it was initially unclear whether it would be voted on. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York put an end to that speculation in a speech he made. workers meeting It will be voted on as one of the final resolutions of the 118th Congress.
This rushed process resulted in little discussion of the practical details related to the implementation of the bill. Later in the debate, Schumer attempted to fix As the bill's effective date approached, the amendments were withdrawn. In the end, the law retained the same effective date as the Graves bill two years earlier.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will now have to scramble quickly to begin issuing policies on a large scale. deferred payment to millions of individuals.
Complicating matters, SSA received executive funding through the continuing resolution, but there is no provision for the potentially significant costs of implementing the bill. SSA's administrative budget has declined sharply in recent years, and the agency recently testified Current staff numbers are “one of the lowest levels in 50 years,” it announced in parliament.
It is unlikely that SSA will have the bandwidth to implement a new benefit structure seamlessly, quickly, and accurately.
SSA's administrative challenges are compounded by the difficulty of communicating to the public about new laws. According to Congressional Research ServiceMost state and local government employees (and all federal employees hired after 1984) have jobs that are covered by Social Security. Pensioners who worked in covered government employment do not receive increased Social Security benefits under the law, but many may mistakenly believe they are owed additional payments.
SSA employees spend significant work hours dealing with a confused and possibly upset public.
Government agencies will want to tell affected pensioners that they already have access to the computer system and new benefits will be processed automatically, so there is no need for the public to contact SSA. However, this is not always true.
Prior to the enactment of this law, individuals affected by government pension offsets may not have been eligible to receive Social Security spousal and survivor payments. Many of these individuals did not apply for Social Security benefits simply because it did not make sense, and as a result, they are not registered in SSA's computer system.
Congressional Budget Office I'm looking forward to it The law's implementation would require SSA to process new applications, and the new applications would increase enrollment by an “extra” 70,000 people in the final year of the Budget Office's projection period.
These are expensive applications to manage for SSA. The SSA does not have an online application for survivor benefits, and both spouse and surviving spouse applications require legal documentation of the relationship (likely from years past).
To make the most of this situation, SSA needs to think clearly about its communication strategy. It is necessary to achieve the twin goals of minimizing contact with the general public, who are not affected by the law, and maximizing contact with those who need to take action (i.e. apply for benefits). be.
SSA may wish to enlist the help of national organizations such as AARP, as well as smaller organizations representing government employees and retirees.
These organizations may also wish to initiate communications on their own. You can also stress that people should ask their legislators for help. National Diet Building switchboard. All Congressional offices provide constituent services and should be able to answer questions and help resolve complex benefits cases.
Finally, SSA should provide Congress with an estimate of the start-up costs associated with implementing the new law, and Congress should consider adjusting the agency's administrative budget when the current continuing resolution expires in March. Should. Without some adjustment, SSA will once again find itself in a “taking Paul from Peter'' situation. This means that some people receive poor quality services while others receive poor quality services.
Dr. David A. Weaver is an economist, former federal official, and author of numerous books. the study About social security programs. His views do not reflect the views of any organization.
