Title: Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2019
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2019
This bill establishes procedures for closing or reducing services at Social Security Administration (SSA) field offices, including requirements related to public hearings, opportunities for comment, and notice to Congress and the public.
The SSA shall report to Congress on previous office closures and submit a plan to ensure that field offices maintain their current levels of provided services.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1616 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1616

  To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to improve the Social 
Security Administration's procedures to close or reduce access to field 
                    offices, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2019

 Ms. Baldwin (for herself and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to improve the Social 
Security Administration's procedures to close or reduce access to field 
                    offices, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Maintain Access to Vital Social 
Security Services Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FIELD OFFICES.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 714. FIELD OFFICES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Commissioner shall operate a sufficient 
number of field offices and employ an adequate number of personnel at 
each field office to--
            ``(1) provide comprehensive, convenient, and accessible 
        services to the public;
            ``(2) meet current and projected workloads, including 
        consideration of anticipated workload or population changes 
        identified through a service area review; and
            ``(3) minimize wait times at each field office.
    ``(b) Procedure To Close or Reduce Access to a Field Office.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Requirement to follow procedure.--The 
                Commissioner may not take any action described in 
                subparagraph (B) with respect to a field office except 
                in accordance with this subsection.
                    ``(B) Covered actions.--The actions described in 
                this subparagraph with respect to a field office are 
                the following:
                            ``(i) Permanently closing a field office, 
                        including by ending or electing not to renew a 
                        lease for a field office.
                            ``(ii) Ending, or electing not to renew, a 
                        lease for any field office.
                            ``(iii) Consolidating the field office with 
                        one or more other field offices.
                            ``(iv) Any other action that would impose a 
                        new limitation on public access or reduce in 
                        person services at a field office.
            ``(2) Notification of anticipated action.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days before 
                the date on which the Commissioner intends any action 
                described in paragraph (1)(B) with respect to a field 
                office to take effect, the Commissioner shall 
                promulgate a public notification of such action that 
                includes the following information:
                            ``(i) An identification of the field 
                        office.
                            ``(ii) The date on which such action is 
                        intended to take effect.
                            ``(iii) The reasons for taking such action, 
                        including, if applicable, the reasons for 
                        rejecting any available alternative actions 
                        such as relocation of the field office and the 
                        role, if any, played by the General Services 
                        Administration in contributing to such 
                        decision.
                            ``(iv) The date, time, and location of the 
                        public hearings to be held pursuant to 
                        paragraph (3).
                            ``(v) Any alternative means of receiving 
                        assistance related to social security which may 
                        be used by individuals served by the field 
                        office.
                            ``(vi) Contact information, including by 
                        phone and internet, by which individuals may 
                        inquire for more information related to such 
                        action.
                In promulgating a notification under this paragraph, 
                the Commissioner shall post such notification at the 
                affected field office and other nearby field offices, 
                mail such notification to residents in the area served 
                by such field offices, publish such notification in 
                newspapers printed in such area, or take such other 
                actions as the Commissioner determines to be necessary.
                    ``(B) Congressional notification.--As soon as 
                practicable and not later than 180 days before the date 
                on which the Commissioner intends any action described 
                in paragraph (1)(B) with respect to a field office to 
                take effect, the Commissioner shall provide written 
                notification to each member of Congress and Senator 
                whose constituents are served by such field office.
                    ``(C) Local government notification and 
                involvement.--As soon as practicable and not later than 
                180 days before the date on which the Commissioner 
                intends any action described in paragraph (1) (B) with 
                respect to a field office to take effect, the 
                Commissioner shall provide written notification to any 
                unit of local government within the service area of 
                such field office and provide the opportunity for local 
                governments to propose alternatives for such action.
            ``(3) Opportunity for public comment.--
                    ``(A) Public hearing.--Not earlier than 30 days and 
                not later than 120 days after a notification is 
                published under paragraph (2) with respect to any 
                action described in paragraph (1)(B) with respect to a 
                field office, the Commissioner shall hold not fewer 
                than two public hearings in the geographic area served 
                by the field office, at which the Commissioner shall--
                            ``(i) present the reasons for taking such 
                        action, including the criteria used to select 
                        the field office for such action and, if 
                        applicable, the reasons for rejecting any 
                        available alternative actions such as 
                        relocation of the field office within the area 
                        served;
                            ``(ii) describe the Social Security 
                        Administration's plan to mitigate disruption in 
                        service for the community served by the field 
                        office, including any special needs of the 
                        community and any anticipated impact on 
                        vulnerable populations such as the elderly, 
                        individuals with disabilities, and those with 
                        language or mobility challenges; and
                            ``(iii) provide an opportunity for public 
                        comment, including an opportunity to recommend 
                        alternatives to such action.
                    ``(B) Submission of written comments.--The 
                Commissioner shall accept written comments from the 
                public relating to such action during the period 
                described in subparagraph (A), which shall be posted on 
                the website of the Social Security Administration.
            ``(4) Public report on hearing.--Not later than 15 days 
        before the date on which any action described in paragraph 
        (1)(B) with respect to a field office takes effect, the 
        Commissioner shall prominently publish on the website of the 
        Social Security Administration a written report that describes 
        the action the Commissioner intends to take with respect to the 
        field office after giving full consideration to, any 
        alternatives proposed by local governments pursuant to 
        paragraph (2)(c) and any public comments received during the 
        period described in paragraph (3)(A). Such report shall include 
        a response by the Commissioner to each unique written comment 
        received during such period. Not later than 3 days after such 
        report has been published, the Commissioner shall notify each 
        person who submitted written comments under paragraph (3)(B). 
        The Commissioner shall submit a copy of such report to each 
        member of Congress identified pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), the 
        Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 
        and the Senate, the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
        Representatives, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
            ``(5) Approval by inspector general of the social security 
        administration.--No action described in paragraph (1)(B) may go 
        into effect until the Inspector General of the Social Security 
        Administration has determined that the Commissioner 
        substantially and procedurally complied with all applicable 
        laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to such 
        action.''.
    (b) Moratorium.--The Commissioner may not take any action described 
in section 714(b)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
914(b)(1)(B)) with respect to a field office until the date that is 30 
days after the date on which the Inspector General of the Social 
Security Administration provides a written determination that the 
amendments made by subsection (a) have been fully implemented by the 
Social Security Administration, except that in the case of such an 
action related to health and safety reviewed by the Inspector General, 
such action may take effect for a period not to exceed 30 days unless 
the Commissioner provides public notice explaining the need to extend 
such period.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL BUDGET.

    (a) In General.--Section 704(b)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)(B)) is amended by striking ``subparagraph (A)'' 
and all that follows through the end and inserting the following: 
``subparagraph (A)--
    ``(i) an itemization of the amount of funds required by the Social 
Security Administration for the fiscal year covered by the budget to 
support efforts to combat fraud committed by applicants and 
beneficiaries; and
    ``(ii) a list of any field offices with respect to which the Social 
Security Administration intends to take any action described in section 
714(b)(1)(B) during the fiscal year covered by the budget.''.
    (b) Display on Website.--Section 704(b)(1) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(C) Not later than 7 days after the submission of an annual 
budget prepared pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Commissioner shall 
make available on the website of the Social Security Administration the 
information described in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B).''.

SEC. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADVISORY BOARD.

    Section 703(b)(4) of title VII of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 903(b)(4)) is amended by striking ``public'' and inserting 
``public, taking into account the impact of closing field offices on 
the quality of service to individuals with disabilities or language 
barriers or other vulnerable populations''.

SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Commissioner shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the 
Senate a report that--
            (1) includes a list of all field offices closed during the 
        5-year period ending on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        reason for each such closure, and any impacts of each such 
        closure on wait-times and staffing at nearby affected field 
        offices;
            (2) describes the role played by the Government Services 
        Administration (GSA) in each of the field office closings in 
        identifying any available alternative actions such as 
        relocation of the field office, including a detailed 
        description of--
                    (A) the number of alternative locations identified 
                by the GSA during each closure procedure;
                    (B) whether the GSA sought input (and the means by 
                which that input was solicited) on alternative 
                locations from State or local public officials or the 
                public in the affected service area (including how many 
                days, weeks, months, or years prior to the closing the 
                GSA sought such input) and the most common cited 
                reasons for not finding suitable alternative locations 
                prior to closing a field office; and
                    (C) any recommendations for how to improve the 
                transparency and adequacy of the process for soliciting 
                and determining the appropriateness of alternative 
                space for relocation prior to closing a field office; 
                and
            (3) describes a plan--
                    (A) to ensure that field offices are receiving 
                sufficient resources to maintain at least the level of 
                constituent services provided in the previous fiscal 
                year; and
                    (B) to adequately address the increasing number of 
                individuals projected to use field offices during the 
                10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of 
                this Act.
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