WASHINGTON, D.C. — At a hearing today of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Xavier Becerra, Assistant to the Speaker of the House and the only congressional member from Southern California on the committee, sharply questioned Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Michael Astrue on his plans to clear the agency’s disability backlog.
“In Los Angeles alone the wait period is close to 380 days for a decision to be made,” Rep. Becerra said. “Yet in your budget request for FY 2009, you have asked for much less than FY 2008… Mr. Commissioner something needs to change, we are talking about people in this country who work and they deserve their benefits.”
Click here to view video of Rep. Becerra’s comments.
In recent years, the demands placed on the SSA have increased significantly as the population has aged and new responsibilities were added by Medicare and homeland security legislation. At the same time, the SSA has been chronically underfunded – receiving a cumulative total of $1.3 billion less than was requested by the president and $4.6 billion less than the commissioner’s own budget for the agency over the past decade. Due to chronic underfunding, the number of SSA employees has steadily decreased. Last year the staffing levels dropped almost as low as in 1972, even as the beneficiary population nearly doubled since that time.
As a result of understaffing, over 1.3 million applicants for disability benefits are awaiting a decision on their claim, with waiting times often extending into years.
“We need to shake things up and I would like to hear about your specific plans for addressing these concerns,” said Rep. Becerra. “Can you tell me what is currently being done by the SSA on the long waiting periods?”
Click here to view video of Rep. Becerra’s comments.
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