I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5110 

To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to require the President 

to transmit the annual budget of the Social Security Administration 

without revisions to Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2008 

Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. BACA, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

COURTNEY, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. 

MOORE of Kansas, and Mr. ELLISON) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to require 

the President to transmit the annual budget of the Social 

Security Administration without revisions to Congress, 

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. AMENDING SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRA4 TION BUDGETARY MATTERS. 

5 (a) ANNUAL BUDGET.—Section 704(b)(1)(A) of the 

6 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)(A)) is amended 

7 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(b)(1)(A) The Commissioner shall prepare and sub2 mit an annual budget estimate for the Administration di3 rectly to the President and Congress.’’. 

4 (b) CONTENTS OF BUDGET.—Section 704(b)(1)(B) 

5 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)(B)) is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(B) The Commissioner shall include in the annual 

8 budget prepared pursuant to subparagraph (A) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(i) An itemization of the amount of funds re11 quired by the Administration to combat fraud com12 mitted by applicants and beneficiaries. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The total number of cases pending at each 

14 hearing office, listed by hearing office, and an aggre15 gate total of all cases pending at all hearing offices. 

16 ‘‘(iii) The total number of cases pending for 

17 over the preceding year at each hearing office, listed 

18 by both hearing office and presiding administrative 

19 judge, and an aggregate total of all cases pending 

20 for over such year at all hearing offices. 

21 ‘‘(iv) The average duration of time to process 

22 each case at each hearing office, listed by hearing of23 fice. 

24 ‘‘(v) The staffing levels at each hearing office 

25 and field office, including a listing of job titles, clasVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:27 Jan 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5110.IH H5110

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1 sifications, and the number of staff within each title 

2 and classification. 

3 ‘‘(vi) Employment statistics for each field office, 

4 for each preceding year after 1979, including the 

5 number of employees hired, retired, transferred in 

6 and out, and dismissed during such year.’’. 

7 (c) CLOSURE OF FIELD OFFICES.—Section 

8 704(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(C) The Commissioner may not close or otherwise 

12 limit public access to a field office of the Administration 

13 until 180 days after the date on which the Commissioner 

14 submits to the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance 

16 of the Senate a detailed report outlining and justifying the 

17 process for selecting field offices to be closed or otherwise 

18 have limited access. Such report shall include— 

19 ‘‘(i) an analysis of the criteria used for selecting 

20 field offices for closure or limited access and how the 

21 Commissioner analyzes and considers factors relat22 ing to transportation and communication burdens 

23 faced by seniors and the disabled; 

24 ‘‘(ii) a cost-benefit analysis for each field office 

25 closure that takes into account— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the anticipated savings as a result of 

2 the closure; 

3 ‘‘(II) the anticipated burdens, including 

4 communication and transportation burdens, 

5 placed on elderly and disabled citizens; and 

6 ‘‘(III) the anticipated costs associated with 

7 replacing the services lost by the closure.’’. 

8 (d) COMPREHENSIVE WORK FORCE PLAN.—Section 

9 704(b)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 904(b)(2)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: ‘‘Not later than 90 days before a revision of the 

12 comprehensive work force plan, the Commissioner shall 

13 submit the document setting forth the revision to the 

14 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Sen16 ate.’’. 

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