Washington, D.C. – Dorcas R. Hardy was the first woman appointed as Commissioner of Social Security. She was appointed by President Reagan in 1986 and to the Social Security Advisory Board (“Board”) in 2002. In the latter capacity, she served three terms, more than 14 years and longer than any other Board member. She passed away on November 28, 2019.

The 2019 Technical Panel on Assumptions and Methods, appointed by the Social Security Advisory Board to review the projections of the financial status of the Social Security programs has issued its final report. The executive summary is available here. The report, executive summary, additional material related to the final report and an archive of the Panel's meetings are available on the Panel's public information page.

On Friday, September 27th, the Social Security Advisory Board (“Board”) will host a public meeting to review the 2019 Technical Panel on Assumptions and Methods’ report to the Board. The meeting will be held from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM in Room 215, Dirksen Senate Office Building at 50 Constitution Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002. The report will be available in electronic format only and will be posted on the Board’s website 48 hours in advance of the meeting.

The Social Security Advisory Board has appointed an independent, expert panel to review Social Security’s efforts to modernize its information technology (IT), which is essential to delivering effective service to the public. The IT Systems Expert Panel (“Panel”) will utilize their expertise and experience to examine progress and key initiatives of Social Security’s IT Modernization Plan, including how systems processes are developed, modified and used by the agency. The Panel will also review the success of the systems modernization from the end-user’s perspective, including those inside and outside the agency. The Panel, chaired by Alan Balutis, PhD, a distinguished fellow and senior director of North American Public Sector Cisco Systems’ Business Solutions Group, will meet beginning in the fall of 2019 and will report its findings to the Board in early fiscal year 2021.

SSA oversees close to 6 million payees managing $5.8 billion a month on behalf of 8.3 million beneficiaries and recipients. One of the most important activities of the Social Security Administration is the designation and monitoring of payees. The Board’s latest brief, Recent Developments in the Social Security Administration’s Representative Payee Program, highlights major issues addressed at its September 2018 policy forum and in its January 2019 public comment. The brief also reports on continued Board concerns, which include the use of evidence to inform policy changes, the implementation of the new payee monitoring process, and communication between SSA leadership and the broader public. 

Dedicated accounts are separate accounts required for holding some lump-sum past-due payments owed to children receiving SSI. The funds held in dedicated accounts are subject to spending restrictions not applicable to other SSI payments. The available anecdotal evidence suggests that dedicated accounts are burdensome for representative payees, most of whom are parents, and that their limited allowable uses make accessing awarded funds difficult. This statement describes dedicated accounts, their provisions, and the implications of those provisions for children with disabilities in low-income families, their payees, and SSA.

Bob Joondeph, JD was sworn in to begin his six-year term on the Social Security Advisory Board ending September 30, 2024. He was selected by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), for appointment to the Board.