Hello, all. I'll be back to respond to the rest of the outstanding posts. In the meantime, I'd like to pass on an alert that I received from NOSSCR re: SSA's budget:
The alert, states that key Members of the House of Representatives and Senate recently met as conferees to reconcile their respective versions of the appropriations bill that includes funding for SSA - the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill. The House and Senate conferees agreed to include the Senate version of the appropriation for SSA, which provides $9.871 billion for SSA's administrative FY 2008 budget. This amount is $275 million above the President's request and would allow SSA to:
" Hire about 250 more ALJs.
" Replace some of the several thousand positions lost in SSA field offices over the past two years.
" Increase hiring in DDSs to replace a loss of over 800 positions.
While this level of funding is not enough to eliminate the disability claims backlog, without this appropriation, the backlog will continue to increase and SSA service will worsen, as SSA's staffing drops to its lowest level in over 30 years. This bill is very important to people with disabilities and their families!
The House and Senate are expected to take up the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (L-HHS-ED) appropriations conference report. It may be combined with the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill.
While President Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it is passed by Congress, it is critical that this level of funding is established for SSA as a congressional priority for FY 2008.
The message for your Representative and Senators:
" Support the Labor-HHS-Education FY 2008 appropriations conference report when it comes up for a vote.
" SSA needs the level of funding in the bill because it is critical to address the growing disability claims backlog. Why does SSA need this level of funding?
o Waiting times at the hearing level are at a record high.
o Individuals waiting for decisions face extreme hardships because of the delays.
o Access to other key services also has been diminished. Local SSA offices have been threatened with closing or having their hours open to the public reduced.
The alert ends by urging everyone to contact their Congressional delegation.
I am not sure what the exact status of this legislation is at this time, but it is clear that SSA needs the additional funding to operate more effectively.
Rich
The alert, states that key Members of the House of Representatives and Senate recently met as conferees to reconcile their respective versions of the appropriations bill that includes funding for SSA - the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill. The House and Senate conferees agreed to include the Senate version of the appropriation for SSA, which provides $9.871 billion for SSA's administrative FY 2008 budget. This amount is $275 million above the President's request and would allow SSA to:
" Hire about 250 more ALJs.
" Replace some of the several thousand positions lost in SSA field offices over the past two years.
" Increase hiring in DDSs to replace a loss of over 800 positions.
While this level of funding is not enough to eliminate the disability claims backlog, without this appropriation, the backlog will continue to increase and SSA service will worsen, as SSA's staffing drops to its lowest level in over 30 years. This bill is very important to people with disabilities and their families!
The House and Senate are expected to take up the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (L-HHS-ED) appropriations conference report. It may be combined with the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill.
While President Bush has threatened to veto the bill if it is passed by Congress, it is critical that this level of funding is established for SSA as a congressional priority for FY 2008.
The message for your Representative and Senators:
" Support the Labor-HHS-Education FY 2008 appropriations conference report when it comes up for a vote.
" SSA needs the level of funding in the bill because it is critical to address the growing disability claims backlog. Why does SSA need this level of funding?
o Waiting times at the hearing level are at a record high.
o Individuals waiting for decisions face extreme hardships because of the delays.
o Access to other key services also has been diminished. Local SSA offices have been threatened with closing or having their hours open to the public reduced.
The alert ends by urging everyone to contact their Congressional delegation.
I am not sure what the exact status of this legislation is at this time, but it is clear that SSA needs the additional funding to operate more effectively.
Rich
Disgusting!!!!
I FEEL JUST THE SAME, YOUR WORDS SPEAK THE TRUETH. GOD BLESS YOU....
LOUISES2006MS
=wendyms92;1159405]Isn't it a crime the SSA found $700,000 to blow on a dance party for themselves? Google "Phoenix AZ Social Security $700,000" and you can see the news video with all of the "stressed out" managers dancing and have a great time at a spa! I haven't been able to dance in years and would love a free weekend at a spa!
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