[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.
<all>
Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2019
#1616 | S Congress #116
Policy Area: Social Welfare
Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (5/22/2019)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text