I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5447

To amend the Social Security Act to prepare the Social Security

Administration for the needs of the 21st century, and for other purposes

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 11, 2000

Mr. SHAW (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to

the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Social Security Act to prepare the Social

Security Administration for the needs of the 21st century, and for other purposes

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Admin5 istration Preparedness Act of 2000’’.
2

1 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OF THE SOCIAL SECU2 RITY ADMINISTRATION.

3 (a) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF ADMINIS4 TRATIVE EXPENSES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(g)(1)(A) of the

6 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401(g)(1)(A)) is

7 amended by striking ‘‘Of the amounts authorized’’

8 and all that follows and inserting the following:

9 ‘‘The amounts authorized to be made available out

10 of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance

11 Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance

12 Trust Fund under the preceding sentence for fiscal

13 year 2001 shall be $7,500,000,000, and the amounts

14 so authorized for fiscal year 2002 shall be

15 $8,450,000,000.’’.

16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

17 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to fiscal

18 years after fiscal year 2000.

19 (b) REPORTS.—Section 201(g)(1) of such Act is

20 amended further by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C),

21 and (D) as subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G), respectively,

22 and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new

23 subparagraphs:

24 ‘‘(B) Each program performance report submitted by

25 the Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to section

26 1116 of title 31, United States Code, shall include docu-
3

1 mentation of the manner in which and the extent to which

2 funds which have been appropriated for the current fiscal

3 year pursuant to subparagraph (A) have been and will be

4 used, and the manner in which and the extent to which

5 funds which are to be appropriated for the following fiscal

6 year pursuant to subparagraph (A) would be used, to

7 effectively—

8 ‘‘(i) carry out the mission of the Social Security

9 Administration (other than the mission of the Office

10 of the Inspector General),

11 ‘‘(ii) meet specific levels of performance that

12 the Administration has committed to achieve

13 through such plans,

14 ‘‘(iii) achieve modern, customer responsive serv15 ice, and

16 ‘‘(iv) protect the integrity of the programs ad17 ministered by the Commissioner under this Act

18 through exemplary stewardship.

19 The Commissioner shall ensure that a copy of each such

20 plan is submitted to the Committee on Appropriations and

21 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep22 resentatives and the Committee on Appropriations and the

23 Committee on Finance of the Senate.
4

1 ‘‘(C)(i) The Inspector General of the Social Security

2 Administration shall prepare for the Office of the Inspec3 tor General for each fiscal year—

4 ‘‘(I) an annual performance plan with respect

5 to the activities of the Office, and

6 ‘‘(II) a report on the program performance of

7 the Office in relation to such plan.

8 The Inspector General shall submit the report on program

9 performance for each fiscal year to the Committee on Ap10 propriations and the Committee on Ways and Means of

11 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Ap12 propriations and the Committee on Finance of the Senate

13 not later than the time required for the submission of the

14 program performance report of the Social Security Admin15 istration for such fiscal year.

16 ‘‘(ii) Each program performance report by the Office

17 of the Inspector General shall include documentation by

18 the Inspector General of the manner in which and the ex19 tent to which funds which have been appropriated for the

20 current fiscal year pursuant to subparagraph (A) have

21 been and will be used, and the manner in which and the

22 extent to which funds which are to be appropriated for

23 the following fiscal year pursuant to subparagraph (A)

24 would be used, to effectively—
5

1 ‘‘(I) carry out the mission of the Office of the

2 Inspector General, and

3 ‘‘(II) meet specific levels of performance that

4 the Inspector General has committed to achieve

5 through the performance plans prepared by the In6 spector General.

7 ‘‘(D) Not later than 90 days after the latest date for

8 the annual submission by the President to the Congress

9 of the budget of the United States Government, the Comp10 troller General of the United States shall submit a report

11 to the President and to the Congress, including submis12 sions to the Committee on Appropriations and the Com13 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Representa14 tives and the Committee on Appropriations and the Com15 mittee on Finance of the Senate, detailing the Comptroller

16 General’s assessment of the degree to which the Social Se17 curity Administration is meeting its established perform18 ance goals, along with such recommendations for improve19 ments in the performance of the Social Security Adminis20 tration as the Comptroller General considers appro21 priate.’’.

22 (c) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF AD23 VANCED TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM.—Section 201(g)(1) of

24 such Act (as amended by the preceding provisions of this

25 section) is amended further by redesignating subpara-
6

1 graphs (E), (F), and (G) as subparagraphs (F), (G), and

2 (H), respectively, and by inserting after subparagraph (D)

3 the following new subparagraph:

4 ‘‘(E)(i) The Commissioner of Social Security shall es5 tablish and maintain an advanced, proven technology sys6 tem sufficient to meet the increasing future demands of

7 the programs administered by the Social Security Admin8 istration. The Commissioner shall establish in the Admin9 istration a technical panel of leading information tech10 nology experts to assist the Commissioner in establishing

11 such system.

12 ‘‘(ii)(I) Not later than the latest date for submission

13 of the President’s budget for fiscal year 2002, and such

14 date biennially thereafter, the Commissioner of Social Se15 curity shall submit a comprehensive information tech16 nology investment plan to the Committee on Appropria17 tions and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House

18 of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations

19 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. Such plan

20 shall include a description of progress made by the Social

21 Security Administration as of the date of the submission

22 of the report in carrying out the requirements of clause

23 (i). Such plan may be prepared as a portion of the pro24 gram performance report submitted by the Commissioner
7

1 of Social Security pursuant to section 1116 of title 31,

2 United States Code.

3 ‘‘(II) Each plan prepared pursuant to subclause (I)

4 shall set forth specific performance goals and, in relation

5 to such goals, information regarding project costs, bene6 fits, risks, and returns. Such plan shall also set forth a

7 defined process for measuring performance in achieving

8 such goals.

9 ‘‘(iii) Not later than 90 days after the date of the

10 submission by the Commissioner of each plan as required

11 by clause (i), the Comptroller General of the United States

12 shall submit a report to the Committee on Appropriations

13 and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of

14 Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations and

15 the Committee on Finance of the Senate detailing the

16 Comptroller General’s assessment of the plan, together

17 with such recommendations as the Comptroller General

18 considers appropriate.’’.

19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 201(g)(1)

20 of such Act is amended further—

21 (1) in subparagraph (G) (as redesignated by

22 the preceding provisions of this section), by striking

23 ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph

24 (F)’’; and
8

1 (2) in subparagraph (H) (as redesignated by

2 the preceding provisions of this section), by striking

3 ‘‘subparagraph (B)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph

4 (F)(i)’’.

5 SEC. 3. LIMITATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRA6 TIVE EXPENSES.

7 (a) ADJUSTMENT TO DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

8 LIMITS.—Section 251(b)(2)(C) of the Balanced Budget

9 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C.

10 901(b)(2)(C)) is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(C) SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATIVE

12 EXPENSES.—(i) If a bill or joint resolution

13 making appropriations for a fiscal year is en14 acted that specifies an amount for administra15 tive expenses of the Social Security Administra16 tion, the adjustments for that fiscal year shall

17 be the new budget authority provided in that

18 Act for such purpose for that fiscal year and

19 the outlays flowing from such amounts, but

20 shall not exceed—

21 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2001,

22 $7,500,000,000 in new budget authority

23 and $7,407,000,000 in outlays; and
9

1 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2002,

2 $8,450,000,000 in new budget authority

3 and $8,352,000,000 in outlays.

4 ‘‘(ii) As used in this subparagraph, the

5 term ‘administrative expenses of the Social Se6 curity Administration’ refers to the following

7 budget accounts:

8 ‘‘(I) 20–8007–0–7–651 (Limitations

9 on Administrative Expenses), including ex10 penses for information technology acquisi11 tion for the Social Security Administration,

12 and

13 ‘‘(II) 28–0400–0–1–651 (Office of In14 spector General).’’.

15 (b) BUDGET ALLOCATION ADJUSTMENT BY BUDGET

16 COMMITTEES.—Section 314(b)(2) of the Congressional

17 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 645(b)(2)) is amended to

18 read as follows:

19 ‘‘(2) an amount provided for administrative ex20 penses of the Social Security Administration subject

21 to the limitations in section 251(b)(2)(C) of the Bal22 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of

23 1985.’’.

24 (c) DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OF

25 THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—Section
10

1 314(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.

2 645(e)) is amended to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OF

4 THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—As used in

5 subsection (b)(2), the term ‘administrative expenses of the

6 Social Security Administration’ shall have the same mean7 ing as provided in section 251(b)(2)(C)(ii) of the Balanced

8 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.’’.

9 SEC. 4. OFF-BUDGET STATUS OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMIN10 ISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

11 Section 704(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

12 904(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following

13 new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(3) Effective October 1, 2002, and notwithstanding

15 any other provision of law, the administrative expenses of

16 the Social Security Administration referred to in the

17 fourth sentence of section 201(g)(1)(A) shall not be count18 ed as new budget authority, outlays, or deficit or surplus

19 for purposes of—

20 (A) the budget of the United States Govern21 ment as submitted by the President,

22 (B) the congressional budget, or

23 (C) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Def24 icit Control Act of 1985.’’.

Æ