[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1701 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1701

To provide for certain notice and procedures before the Social Security 
Administration may close, consolidate, or recategorize certain offices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            November 19 (legislative day, November 2), 1993

  Mr. Sarbanes (for himself and Mr. Sasser) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for certain notice and procedures before the Social Security 
Administration may close, consolidate, or recategorize certain offices.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be 
cited as the ``Social Security Administration Services Preservation 
Act''.

                         findings and purposes

    Sec. 2. (a) The Congress finds that--
            (1) the service philosophy of the Social Security 
        Administration recognizes that the effective administration of 
        programs depends upon the goodwill and acceptance of the 
        public;
            (2) the Statement of Objectives of the Social Security 
        Administration in the year of 1958 recognized that public 
        confidence and cooperation is partially based on the locations 
        and appearances of offices;
            (3) the mission of the Social Security Administration 
        touches the lives of virtually all United States citizens and 
        therefore offices of the Administration need to be readily 
        accessible to all citizens regardless of residence;
            (4) many United States citizens, especially many among the 
        handicapped and the elderly, need personal attention to needs 
        and should not be unnecessarily deprived of access to agency 
        officers;
            (5) discrepancies exist between the formal procedures for 
        closing, consolidating, and recategorizing Social Security 
        Administration offices and the practice often used;
            (6) the procedures used for such decisions are inconsistent 
        and often too informal;
            (7) the procedures used in many closings, moves, and 
        recategorizations have not adequately considered the interests 
        of the individuals affected by the decisions; and
            (8) all changes in the status and location of Social 
        Security Administration offices should be considered in such a 
        way as to not undermine public confidence in the Social 
        Security program.
    (b) The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) ensure that the public interest is considered and 
        protected in all decisions to close, consolidate, or 
        recategorize Social Security Administration offices; and
            (2) establish a fair procedure to be followed in all such 
        decisions.

   consolidation, closing, or recategorization of a social security 
                         administration office

    Sec. 3. Title VII of the Social Security Act is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following new section:

   ``consolidation, closing or recategorization of a social security 
                         administration office

    ``Sec. 712. (a) For purposes of this section, the term--
            ``(1) `adequate public notice' means the conspicuous 
        posting of a formal notice at the affected office and the 
        mailing of a written notice to at least--
                    ``(A) the employees of the affected office;
                    ``(B) the regularly published local press serving 
                the affected community;
                    ``(C) all elected local public officials, community 
                groups, and county, parish, and State welfare offices, 
                and any other affected or relevant organization; and
                    ``(D) the Members of Congress who serve the area in 
                which the affected office is located;
            ``(2) `move' with respect to an office means any change in 
        the physical location of such office, unless such move is 
        within the same political subdivision and is necessitated by an 
        involuntary loss of a lease or a need for additional space;
            ``(3) `office' includes all field offices, district 
        offices, and hearings and appeals offices of the Social 
        Security Administration;
            ``(4) `political subdivision' means a component of a county 
        or large city which has a common civic identity characterized 
        by neighborhood pride, independence, or homogeneous ethnic, 
        racial, religious, or economic background; and
            ``(5) `recategorize' means the process of scaling down an 
        office to a lesser status or level of function.
    ``(b) The Social Security Administration, after making a 
determination as to the necessity for the closing, consolidation, or 
recategorization of any office, shall provide adequate public notice of 
such determination at least 90 days prior to the proposed date of such 
closing, consolidation, or recategorization. Such notice shall include 
an invitation for written comments on the proposal and shall include an 
address for mailing such comments.
    ``(c) When making a determination to close, consolidate, or 
recategorize an office, the Social Security Administration shall 
consider--
            ``(1) the effect of such change on the community served by 
        such office including the availability of public transportation 
        to any site, the socioeconomic status of the community, the 
        caseload of the affected office, and such other factors as the 
        Social Security Administration determines are necessary;
            ``(2) the need of the community for personal service, 
        relative to mail or telephone service, based on demographic 
        information such as educational and literacy levels;
            ``(3) the effect of such determination on employees of the 
        Social Security Administration at such office; and
            ``(4) the economic savings to the Social Security 
        Administration resulting from the change.
    ``(d) The Commissioner of Social Security or the Deputy 
Commissioner of Social Security shall approve all preliminary and final 
determinations to close offices that are open full-time and provide a 
full range of services. The authority to make other preliminary and 
final determinations may be delegated by the Commissioner.
    ``(e) Any preliminary determination of the Social Security 
Administration to close, consolidate, or recategorize an office shall 
be in writing and shall include the findings of the Social Security 
Administration with respect to the considerations required under 
subsection (c).
    ``(f) A public hearing shall be--
            ``(1) held upon written request;
            ``(2) held no earlier than 60 days after adequate public 
        notice of such hearing is made;
            ``(3) conducted on all proposals to consolidate, close, or 
        recategorize the affected office;
            ``(4) held at or near the location of the affected office; 
        and
            ``(5) conducted by an official designated by the regional 
        or central office.
    ``(g) Within 30 days after the hearing held under the provisions of 
subsection (f) or after the 90-day period described under subsection 
(b), whichever is later, the Social Security Administration shall--
            ``(1) issue a final report that--
                    ``(A) incorporates all of the testimony provided at 
                the public hearing and all written comments received; 
                and
                    ``(B) specifies the final determination of the 
                status of the affected office;
            ``(2) send copies of the final report to the local 
        community press and the appropriate Members of Congress; and
            ``(3) provide adequate public notice of the final 
        determination, including a notice that copies of the full final 
        report may be viewed or obtained, without charge, at the 
        affected office.
    ``(h) A final determination of the Social Security Administration 
to close, consolidate, or recategorize an office may be appealed by any 
person served by such office to the Commissioner of Social Security. 
Such appeal shall be filed no later than 30 days following adequate 
public notice of the final determination under subsection (g)(3). The 
Commissioner shall review such determination on the basis of the record 
before the Social Security Administration in deciding such appeal. The 
Commissioner shall set aside any determination, finding, or conclusion 
found to be--
            ``(1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or 
        otherwise not in accordance with the law;
            ``(2) without observance of procedure required by law; or
            ``(3) unsupported by substantial evidence on the record.
    ``(i) No action may be taken to close, move, or recategorize any 
office during the 30 days following the announcement of a decision nor 
during the time that any level of appeal is pending.
    ``(j) The Social Security Administration shall include in its 
annual budget submission to the Congress a list of all offices, as 
defined under subsection (a)(3), and all contact stations that--
            ``(1) were closed or discontinued during the year preceding 
        the date of such submission; and
            ``(2) are scheduled to be closed or discontinued and the 
        date that such action is planned.''.

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