I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7146 

To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to establish a procedure 

to close or reduce access to field offices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 

Ms. MOORE 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 establish 

a procedure to close or reduce access to field offices, 

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 ‘‘Maintain Access to 

5 Vital Social Security Services Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FIELD OFFICES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Social Security 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 714. FIELD OFFICES. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall operate 

3 a sufficient number of field offices and employ an ade4 quate number of personnel at each field office to— 

5 ‘‘(1) provide wide-ranging, convenient, and ac6 cessible services to the public; 

7 ‘‘(2) meet current and projected workloads, tak8 ing into account any anticipated demographic shifts 

9 in the geographic area served by each field office; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(3) minimize wait-times at each field office. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE TO CLOSE OR REDUCE ACCESS TO

13 A FIELD OFFICE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO FOLLOW PROCE16 DURE.—The Commissioner may not take any 

17 action described in subparagraph (B) with re18 spect to a field office except in accordance with 

19 this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(B) COVERED ACTIONS.—The actions de21 scribed in this subparagraph with respect to a 

22 field office are the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) Closing the field office for a pe24 riod of more than 60 days. 

25 ‘‘(ii) Ending, or electing not to renew, 

26 a lease for any field office. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Consolidating the field office 

2 with one or more other field offices. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Reassigning personnel of the 

4 field office to one or more other field of5 fices. 

6 ‘‘(v) Any other action that would re7 sult in the field office reducing face-to-face 

8 services to the public. 

9 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF ANTICIPATED ACTION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

11 days before the date on which the Commis12 sioner intends any action described in para13 graph (1)(B) with respect to a field office to 

14 take effect, the Commissioner shall promulgate 

15 a public notification of such action that includes 

16 the following information: 

17 ‘‘(i) An identification of the field of18 fice. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The date on which such action is 

20 intended to take effect. 

21 ‘‘(iii) The reasons for taking such ac22 tion, including, if applicable, the reasons 

23 for rejecting any available alternative ac24 tions such as relocation of the field office. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) The date, time, and location of 

2 the public hearings to be held pursuant to 

3 paragraph (3). 

4 ‘‘(v) Any alternative means of receiv5 ing assistance related to social security 

6 which may be used by individuals served by 

7 the field office. 

8 ‘‘(vi) Contact information, including 

9 by phone and Internet, by which individ10 uals may inquire for more information re11 lated to such action. 

12 In promulgating a notification under this para13 graph, the Commissioner shall post such notifi14 cation at the affected field office and other 

15 nearby field offices, mail such notification to 

16 residents in the area served by such field of17 fices, publish such notification in newspapers 

18 printed in such area, or take such other actions 

19 as the Commissioner determines to be nec20 essary. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—As 

22 soon as practicable and not later than 90 days 

23 before the date on which the Commissioner in24 tends any action described in paragraph (1)(B) 

25 with respect to a field office to take effect, the 


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1 Commissioner shall provide written notification 

2 to each member of Congress and Senator whose 

3 constituents are served by such field office. 

4 ‘‘(3) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) PUBLIC HEARING.—Not earlier than 

6 30 days and not later than 60 days after a noti7 fication is published under paragraph (2) with 

8 respect to any action described in paragraph 

9 (1)(B) with respect to a field office, the Com10 missioner shall hold not fewer than two public 

11 hearings in the geographic area served by the 

12 field office, at which the Commissioner shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) present the reasons for taking 

14 such action, including the criteria used to 

15 select the field office for such action and, 

16 if applicable, the reasons for rejecting any 

17 available alternative actions such as reloca18 tion of the field office; 

19 ‘‘(ii) address whether impacts on vul20 nerable populations, such as the elderly 

21 population, the disabled population, and 

22 those with language proficiency or mobility 

23 challenges, were considered; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) provide an opportunity for pub2 lic comment, including an opportunity to 

3 recommend alternatives to such action. 

4 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COM5 MENTS.—The Commissioner shall accept writ6 ten comments from the public relating to such 

7 action during the period described in subpara8 graph (A), which shall be posted on the website 

9 of the Social Security Administration. 

10 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC REPORT ON HEARING.—Not later 

11 than 15 days before the date on which any action 

12 described in paragraph (1)(B) with respect to a field 

13 office takes effect, the Commissioner shall promi14 nently publish on the website of the Social Security 

15 Administration a written report that describes the 

16 action the Commissioner intends to take with re17 spect to the field office after giving full consideration 

18 to any public comments received during the period 

19 described in paragraph (3)(A). Such report shall in20 clude a response by the Commissioner, to the extent 

21 the Commissioner determines to be practicable, to 

22 each unique written comment received during such 

23 period. Not later than 3 days after such report has 

24 been published, the Commissioner shall notify each 

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1 graph (3)(B). The Commissioner shall submit a copy 

2 of such report to the Committees on Appropriations 

3 of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the 

4 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

5 Representatives, and the Committee on Finance of 

6 the Senate. 

7 ‘‘(5) APPROVAL BY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

8 THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—No action 

9 described in paragraph (1)(B) may go into effect 

10 until the Inspector General of the Social Security 

11 Administration has determined that the Commis12 sioner substantially and procedurally complied with 

13 all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines with 

14 respect to such action.’’. 

15 (b) MORATORIUM.—The Commissioner may not take 

16 any action described in section 714(b)(1)(B) of the Social 

17 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 914(b)(1)(B)) with respect to a 

18 field office until the date that is 180 days after the date 

19 on which the Inspector General of the Social Security Ad20 ministration determines that the amendments made by 

21 subsection (a) have been fully implemented by the Social 

22 Security Administration, except that in the case of such 

23 an action related to health and safety, such action may 

24 take effect for a period not to exceed 30 days unless the 


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1 Commissioner provides public notice explaining the need 

2 to extend such period. 

3 SEC. 3. ANNUAL BUDGET. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704(b)(1)(B) of the So5 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)(B)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and all that follows through 

7 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘subparagraph (A)— 

8 ‘‘(i) an itemization of the amount of funds required 

9 by the Social Security Administration for the fiscal year 

10 covered by the budget to support efforts to combat fraud 

11 committed by applicants and beneficiaries; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) a list of any field offices with respect to which 

13 the Social Security Administration intends to take any ac14 tion described in section 714(b)(1)(B) during the fiscal 

15 year covered by the budget.’’. 

16 (b) DISPLAY ON WEBSITE.—Section 704(b)(1) of the 

17 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) Not later than 7 days after the submission of 

20 an annual budget prepared pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

21 the Commissioner shall make available on the website of 

22 the Social Security Administration the information de23 scribed in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADVI2 SORY BOARD. 

3 Section 703(b)(4) of title VII of the Social Security 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 903(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘public’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘public, taking into account the impact of 

6 closing field offices on the quality of service to individuals 

7 with disabilities or language barriers or other vulnerable 

8 populations’’. 

9 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

10 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Commissioner shall submit to the 

12 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep13 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 

14 a report that— 

15 (1) includes a list of all field offices closed dur16 ing the 5-year period ending on the date of enact17 ment of this Act, the reason for each such closure, 

18 and any impacts of each such closure on wait-times 

19 and staffing at nearby affected field offices; and 

20 (2) describes a plan— 

21 (A) to ensure that field offices are receiv22 ing sufficient resources to maintain at least the 

23 level of constituent services provided in the pre24 vious fiscal year; and 

25 (B) to adequately address the increasing 

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1 fices during the 10-year period beginning on the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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