Maintain Access to Vital Social Security Services Act of 2019

II 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maintain Access to 4 Vital Social Security Services Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FIELD OFFICES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Social Security 7 Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 8 end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1616 IS ‘‘SEC. 714. FIELD OFFICES. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall operate 2 a sufficient number of field offices and employ an ade- 3 quate number of personnel at each field office to— 4 ‘‘(1) provide comprehensive, convenient, and ac- 5 cessible services to the public; 6 ‘‘(2) meet current and projected workloads, in- 7 cluding consideration of anticipated workload or 8 population changes identified through a service area 9 review; and 10 ‘‘(3) minimize wait times at each field office. 11 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE TO CLOSE OR REDUCE ACCESS TO 12 A FIELD OFFICE.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 14 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO FOLLOW PROCE- 15 DURE.—The Commissioner may not take any 16 action described in subparagraph (B) with re- 17 spect to a field office except in accordance with 18 this subsection. 19 ‘‘(B) COVERED ACTIONS.—The actions de- 20 scribed in this subparagraph with respect to a 21 field office are the following: 22 ‘‘(i) Permanently closing a field office, 23 including by ending or electing not to 24 renew a lease for a field office. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1616 IS ‘‘(ii) Ending, or electing not to renew, 1 a lease for any field office. 2 ‘‘(iii) Consolidating the field office 3 with one or more other field offices. 4 ‘‘(iv) Any other action that would im- 5 pose a new limitation on public access or 6 reduce in person services at a field office. 7 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF ANTICIPATED ACTION.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 9 days before the date on which the Commis- 10 sioner intends any action described in para- 11 graph (1)(B) with respect to a field office to 12 take effect, the Commissioner shall promulgate 13 a public notification of such action that includes 14 the following information: 15 ‘‘(i) An identification of the field of- 16 fice. 17 ‘‘(ii) The date on which such action is 18 intended to take effect. 19 ‘‘(iii) The reasons for taking such ac- 20 tion, including, if applicable, the reasons 21 for rejecting any available alternative ac- 22 tions such as relocation of the field office 23 and the role, if any, played by the General 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1616 IS Services Administration in contributing to 1 such decision. 2 ‘‘(iv) The date, time, and location of 3 the public hearings to be held pursuant to 4 paragraph (3). 5 ‘‘(v) Any alternative means of receiv- 6 ing assistance related to social security 7 which may be used by individuals served by 8 the field office. 9 ‘‘(vi) Contact information, including 10 by phone and internet, by which individ- 11 uals may inquire for more information re- 12 lated to such action. 13 In promulgating a notification under this para- 14 graph, the Commissioner shall post such notifi- 15 cation at the affected field office and other 16 nearby field offices, mail such notification to 17 residents in the area served by such field of- 18 fices, publish such notification in newspapers 19 printed in such area, or take such other actions 20 as the Commissioner determines to be nec- 21 essary. 22 ‘‘(B) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—As 23 soon as practicable and not later than 180 days 24 before the date on which the Commissioner in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1616 IS tends any action described in paragraph (1)(B) 1 with respect to a field office to take effect, the 2 Commissioner shall provide written notification 3 to each member of Congress and Senator whose 4 constituents are served by such field office. 5 ‘‘(C) LOCAL GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION 6 AND INVOLVEMENT.—As soon as practicable 7 and not later than 180 days before the date on 8 which the Commissioner intends any action de- 9 scribed in paragraph (1) (B) with respect to a 10 field office to take effect, the Commissioner 11 shall provide written notification to any unit of 12 local government within the service area of such 13 field office and provide the opportunity for local 14 governments to propose alternatives for such 15 action. 16 ‘‘(3) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.— 17 ‘‘(A) PUBLIC HEARING.—Not earlier than 18 30 days and not later than 120 days after a no- 19 tification is published under paragraph (2) with 20 respect to any action described in paragraph 21 (1)(B) with respect to a field office, the Com- 22 missioner shall hold not fewer than two public 23 hearings in the geographic area served by the 24 field office, at which the Commissioner shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1616 IS ‘‘(i) present the reasons for taking 1 such action, including the criteria used to 2 select the field office for such action and, 3 if applicable, the reasons for rejecting any 4 available alternative actions such as reloca- 5 tion of the field office within the area 6 served; 7 ‘‘(ii) describe the Social Security Ad- 8 ministration’s plan to mitigate disruption 9 in service for the community served by the 10 field office, including any special needs of 11 the community and any anticipated impact 12 on vulnerable populations such as the el- 13 derly, individuals with disabilities, and 14 those with language or mobility challenges; 15 and 16 ‘‘(iii) provide an opportunity for pub- 17 lic comment, including an opportunity to 18 recommend alternatives to such action. 19 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COM- 20 MENTS.—The Commissioner shall accept writ- 21 ten comments from the public relating to such 22 action during the period described in subpara- 23 graph (A), which shall be posted on the website 24 of the Social Security Administration. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1616 IS ‘‘(4) PUBLIC REPORT ON HEARING.—Not later 1 than 15 days before the date on which any action 2 described in paragraph (1)(B) with respect to a field 3 office takes effect, the Commissioner shall promi- 4 nently publish on the website of the Social Security 5 Administration a written report that describes the 6 action the Commissioner intends to take with re- 7 spect to the field office after giving full consideration 8 to, any alternatives proposed by local governments 9 pursuant to paragraph (2)(c) and any public com- 10 ments received during the period described in para- 11 graph (3)(A). Such report shall include a response 12 by the Commissioner to each unique written com- 13 ment received during such period. Not later than 3 14 days after such report has been published, the Com- 15 missioner shall notify each person who submitted 16 written comments under paragraph (3)(B). The 17 Commissioner shall submit a copy of such report to 18 each member of Congress identified pursuant to 19 paragraph (2)(B), the Committees on Appropria- 20 tions of the House of Representatives and the Sen- 21 ate, the Committee on Ways and Means of the 22 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Fi- 23 nance of the Senate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1616 IS ‘‘(5) APPROVAL BY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF 1 THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—No action 2 described in paragraph (1)(B) may go into effect 3 until the Inspector General of the Social Security 4 Administration has determined that the Commis- 5 sioner substantially and procedurally complied with 6 all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines with 7 respect to such action.’’. 8 (b) MORATORIUM.—The Commissioner may not take 9 any action described in section 714(b)(1)(B) of the Social 10 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 914(b)(1)(B)) with respect to a 11 field office until the date that is 30 days after the date 12 on which the Inspector General of the Social Security Ad- 13 ministration provides a written determination that the 14 amendments made by subsection (a) have been fully imple- 15 mented by the Social Security Administration, except that 16 in the case of such an action related to health and safety 17 reviewed by the Inspector General, such action may take 18 effect for a period not to exceed 30 days unless the Com- 19 missioner provides public notice explaining the need to ex- 20 tend such period. 21 SEC. 3. ANNUAL BUDGET. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704(b)(1)(B) of the So- 23 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)(B)) is amended by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1616 IS striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and all that follows through 1 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘subparagraph (A)— 2 ‘‘(i) an itemization of the amount of funds required 3 by the Social Security Administration for the fiscal year 4 covered by the budget to support efforts to combat fraud 5 committed by applicants and beneficiaries; and 6 ‘‘(ii) a list of any field offices with respect to which 7 the Social Security Administration intends to take any ac- 8 tion described in section 714(b)(1)(B) during the fiscal 9 year covered by the budget.’’. 10 (b) DISPLAY ON WEBSITE.—Section 704(b)(1) of the 11 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 904(b)(1)) is amended by 12 adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(C) Not later than 7 days after the submission of 14 an annual budget prepared pursuant to subparagraph (A), 15 the Commissioner shall make available on the website of 16 the Social Security Administration the information de- 17 scribed in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B).’’. 18 SEC. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADVI- 19 SORY BOARD. 20 Section 703(b)(4) of title VII of the Social Security 21 Act (42 U.S.C. 903(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘public’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘public, taking into account the impact of 23 closing field offices on the quality of service to individuals 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1616 IS with disabilities or language barriers or other vulnerable 1 populations’’. 2 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 3 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, the Commissioner shall submit to the 5 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 7 a report that— 8 (1) includes a list of all field offices closed dur- 9 ing the 5-year period ending on the date of enact- 10 ment of this Act, the reason for each such closure, 11 and any impacts of each such closure on wait-times 12 and staffing at nearby affected field offices; 13 (2) describes the role played by the Government 14 Services Administration (GSA) in each of the field 15 office closings in identifying any available alternative 16 actions such as relocation of the field office, includ- 17 ing a detailed description of— 18 (A) the number of alternative locations 19 identified by the GSA during each closure pro- 20 cedure; 21 (B) whether the GSA sought input (and 22 the means by which that input was solicited) on 23 alternative locations from State or local public 24 officials or the public in the affected service 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1616 IS area (including how many days, weeks, months, 1 or years prior to the closing the GSA sought 2 such input) and the most common cited reasons 3 for not finding suitable alternative locations 4 prior to closing a field office; and 5 (C) any recommendations for how to im- 6 prove the transparency and adequacy of the 7 process for soliciting and determining the ap- 8 propriateness of alternative space for relocation 9 prior to closing a field office; and 10 (3) describes a plan— 11 (A) to ensure that field offices are receiv- 12 ing sufficient resources to maintain at least the 13 level of constituent services provided in the pre- 14 vious fiscal year; and 15 (B) to adequately address the increasing 16 number of individuals projected to use field of- 17 fices during the 10-year period beginning on the 18 date of enactment of this Act. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1616.IS S1616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS