I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4532 

To provide for permanent extension of the attorney fee withholding procedures 

under title II of the Social Security Act to title XVI of such Act, 

and to provide for permanent extension of such procedures under titles 

II and XVI of such Act to qualified non-attorney representatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2010 

Mr. TANNER (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, and 

Mr. LINDER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide for permanent extension of the attorney fee withholding procedures under title II of the Social Security 

Act to title XVI of such Act, and to provide for permanent extension of such procedures under titles II and 

XVI of such Act to qualified non-attorney representatives. 

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 Dis5 ability Applicants’ Access to Professional Representation 

6 Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF ATTORNEY FEE WITH2 HOLDING PROCEDURES TO TITLE XVI. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Social Security 

4 Protection Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–203; 118 Stat. 

5 519) is amended— 

6 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TEM7 PORARY’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘EFFECTIVE

9 DATE.—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘The amend10 ments’’ and inserting ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE.—The 

11 amendments’’, and by striking paragraph (2). 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

13 section 302 in the table of contents in section 1(b) of such 

14 Act is amended by striking ‘‘Temporary extension’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘Extension’’. 

16 SEC. 3. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF FEE WITHHOLDING 

17 PROCEDURES TO QUALIFIED NON-ATTORNEY 

18 REPRESENTATIVES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 206 of the Social Security 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 406) is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(e)(1) The Commissioner shall provide for the exten23 sion of the fee withholding procedures and assessment pro24 cedures that apply under the preceding provisions of this 

25 section to agents and other persons, other than attorneys, 


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1 who represent claimants under this title before the Com2 missioner. 

3 ‘‘(2) Fee-withholding procedures may be extended 

4 under paragraph (1) to any nonattorney representative 

5 only if such representative meets at least the following pre6 requisites: 

7 ‘‘(A) The representative has been awarded a 

8 bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of 

9 higher education, or has been determined by the 

10 Commissioner to have equivalent qualifications de11 rived from training and work experience. 

12 ‘‘(B) The representative has passed an exam13 ination, written and administered by the Commis14 sioner, which tests knowledge of the relevant provi15 sions of this Act and the most recent developments 

16 in agency and court decisions affecting this title and 

17 title XVI. 

18 ‘‘(C) The representative has secured profes19 sional liability insurance, or equivalent insurance, 

20 which the Commissioner has determined to be ade21 quate to protect claimants in the event of mal22 practice by the representative. 

23 ‘‘(D) The representative has undergone a crimi24 nal background check to ensure the representative’s 

25 fitness to practice before the Commissioner. 


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1 ‘‘(E) The representative demonstrates ongoing 

2 completion of qualified courses of continuing edu3 cation, including education regarding ethics and pro4 fessional conduct, which are designed to enhance 

5 professional knowledge in matters related to entitle6 ment to, or eligibility for, benefits based on disability 

7 under this title and title XVI. Such continuing edu8 cation, and the instructors providing such education, 

9 shall meet such standards as the Commissioner may 

10 prescribe. 

11 ‘‘(3)(A) The Commissioner may assess representa12 tives reasonable fees to cover the cost to the Social Secu13 rity Administration of administering the prerequisites de14 scribed in paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(B) Fees collected under subparagraph (A) shall be 

16 credited to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 

17 Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 

18 Fund, or deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the general 

19 fund of the Treasury, based on such allocations as the 

20 Commissioner determines appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(C) The fees authorized under this paragraph shall 

22 be collected and available for obligation only to the extent 

23 and in the amount provided in advance in appropriations 

24 Acts. Amounts so appropriated are authorized to remain 


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1 available until expended for administering the pre2 requisites described in paragraph (2).’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) Section 1631(d)(2)(A) of such Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 1383(d)(2)(A)) is amended— 

6 (A) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (B) in clause (v), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

11 clause: 

12 ‘‘(vi) by substituting, in subsection 

13 (e)(1)— 

14 ‘‘(I) ‘subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

15 section 1631(d)(2)’ for ‘the preceding pro16 visions of this section’; and 

17 ‘‘(II) ‘title XVI’ for ‘this title’.’’. 

18 (2) Section 303(e)(2) of the Social Security 

19 Protection Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–203; 118 

20 Stat. 523) is amended by striking ‘‘AND FINAL RE21 PORT’’ in the heading and by striking the last sen22 tence. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Commissioner of Social 

24 Security shall provide for full implementation of the provi25 sions of section 206(e) of the Social Security Act (as 


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1 added by subsection (a)) and the amendments made by 

2 subsection (b) not later than March 1, 2010. 

Æ 


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