Rep. Wild Secures Funding for Social Security Administration in House-Passed Bill

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Susan Wild (PA-07) announced House passage of $100 million in increased funding she requested for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to address long wait times and backlog of disability hearings. Secured last week as part of the Labor - Health and Human Services funding bill that passed the House last week, this funding would go toward additional hires and resources to improve efficiency.

“Social Security is the nation’s cornerstone economic security program – protection that Americans earn through a lifetime of hard work. But for the last decade, we have failed to properly invest in this program and, consequently, the millions of Americans who depend on it,” Wild said. “This funding is a commitment to ending the long waiting times, benefit delays, and service problems that, for so many, can be life-threatening – and accomplishing this by creating jobs our country sorely needs right now. It’s long past time we put families at the center of our federal budget, and I’m proud that this effort does just that.”

Wild played a pivotal role in securing this funding for Fiscal Year 2021, which extends from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, by leading a letter to the House Appropriations Committee. Her effort, which gained the support of nearly 120 of her colleagues, follows a 12 percent decline in funding for the SSA over the last decade, through time when the number of individuals that are receiving benefits increased by 20 percent. As a result of inadequate budgets, SSA’s staffing has been cut, leading to lengthy wait times for service, including at SSA field offices, call centers, and disability hearing offices. Nationally, the average wait time for a Social Security Disability hearing is 15 months.

Last year, Wild advanced a similar effort following reports out of Philadelphia that wait times for Social Security Disability hearings were surpassing two years, and that one woman with multiple sclerosis waited 878 days before receiving her ruling. In March of last year, Wild testified in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor – Health and Human Services about the critical need to properly fund the SSA and ensure Americans can access these essential benefits.

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