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Dear Colleague,

I am writing with a quick update on the Social Security Administration's (SSA) fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget and the Administration's request for a funding anomaly for SSA under a continuing resolution (CR). Our employees demonstrate an unwavering commitment to serving the millions of people who turn to us for assistance each year. However, we cannot keep up with the demand for service and our annual fixed cost increases. As a result, the public is experiencing delays in service and long waits for disability decisions. We need additional funding to deliver the service the public deserves and expects.

On October 1, 2022, we will likely start the FY under a CR. After years of inadequate funding, beginning FY 2023 with the same funding we had in FY 2022 will make it even harder to dig out of our current backlogs and will increase the public's wait for service.

The Administration asked Congress for a CR anomaly that would provide us with $800 million over our FY 2022 funding level. This anomaly would allow us to maintain our current service levels without further deterioration while Congress makes final decisions on government-wide funding levels for FY 2023.

We deliver $1.3 trillion directly to tens of millions of beneficiaries each year, providing a financial safety net for Americans. These benefits are vital to the national economy and critical for families. Social Security benefits also help people access other important programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Many of your clients depend on SSA and these other programs to survive.

Due to underfunding and the resulting hiring freezes, reduced staffing levels cannot keep pace with demand

Our FY 2022 budget was $850 million less than the President's budget request. Consequently, in March 2022, we implemented a hiring freeze, but have subsequently lifted the freeze. Our agency is now at its lowest staffing level in 25 years. Prior to the pandemic, we had approximately 60,000 employees. Now, we have approximately 56,000 employees - a 7 percent drop. As we lose employees, our service deteriorates. This issue is particularly acute in our State disability determination services (DDS), where we decide initial disability claims and reconsiderations, due to historically high attrition as workloads become less reasonable with fewer staff.

Insufficient funds for hiring staff yield service times that don't meet expectations

Without sufficient funds to hire the level of staffing needed, we are experiencing growing backlogs and lengthy delays that cause significant financial hardship for the most vulnerable people. We have a knowledgeable, dedicated, and talented workforce that administers our complex programs. Our employees strive to provide compassionate and timely service and are indispensable in helping us tackle ever-growing workloads but cannot do so without a budget that allows for significant improvement. Claimants are currently waiting an average of six months for a decision on their initial disability claims, which is unacceptable. This is two months longer than they waited in FY 2019. Wait times for our National 800 Number have also increased significantly. Callers are waiting over 30 minutes, on average - more than 10 minutes longer than in FY 2019.

What the CR anomaly means for the public

The additional funding will prevent further deterioration of our service. While the status quo is not ideal, the additional funding would allow the agency to: 1) replace its staffing losses in FY 2023, 2) fund fixed costs increases the agency must absorb like employee salaries and benefits, and 3) fund the same level of overtime as in FY 2022. We rely on overtime to process critical workloads, especially given our hiring challenges.

We would also be able to keep level funding for information technology (IT), which helps us automate our work, protect against ever increasing security threats, and provide more efficient and convenient service for the public.

Repercussions if not granted additional funding

An extended or full year CR in FY 2023 without additional funding would be disastrous. It would require us to absorb fixed cost increases of over half a billion dollars. We would be unable to replace the nearly 6,000 additional SSA and State DDS employees we expect to lose next year due to expected attrition. We would be forced to significantly cut overtime levels that we rely on to complete our workloads, like making initial disability decisions or even helping people who come into our offices at the end of the day. These cuts would further delay important services and increase the public's frustration.

We worked diligently to reduce the hearings backlog to its lowest level in 21 years. Insufficient funding would undermine this achievement and our ability to eliminate the hearings backlog would be in jeopardy.

As a result of the pandemic, the backlog in initial disability claims is approaching the one-million mark (929,000 as of August 2022, an increase of 189,000 claims from the end of last fiscal year, September 2021). Insufficient funding for staffing and overtime to reduce this backlog would result in increasing wait times.

Lastly, we would need to reduce core operating IT costs, and we would struggle to maintain our basic IT infrastructure. Our core IT system is crucial to sustaining the benefits and services the agency provides. Modernization of the legacy system is essential and will take additional funds.

In summary, it is critical that we have the resources to restore staffing losses and continue important IT investments or face years of deteriorating service that the public will not and should not accept. We must be able to provide timely and quality service to everyone who depends on us.

Sincerely,

Jeff Nesbit
Deputy Commissioner for Communications
Social Security Administration