Rob Wendt, NOSSCR President

I want to welcome our recently elected board members to what promises to be an exciting time for the advancement of NOSSCR’s mission. Only four years ago we moved NOSSCR to Washington, DC with the goal of becoming a more effective advocate for improvements in the disability program in Congress and with the Commissioner of Social Security. We also aspired to modernize our operations, and to bring together all the members of our disability representative community, from small firms and solo practitioners to large national firms, and nonprofit organizations such as legal services.

If meeting those ambitions wasn’t challenging enough, we and our clients also faced an unprecedented crisis at SSA with massive backlogs of claims caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, complicated by years of SSA’s failure to modernize disability operations, and followed by chaos in the federal civil service during the early days of the new administration.

As the saying goes, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, so NOSSCR took the challenge head on. Very quickly, NOSSCR became a trusted advisor to the House Social Security Subcommittee of Ways and Means, and to Social Security Commissioners Martin O’Malley and Frank Bisignano in their efforts to reform Social Security’s operations and systems.

Moving our organization to Washington, modernizing our operations, and aggressively pursuing our political advocacy was expensive, and as one would expect, there were disagreements over the changes we made and how we accomplished them. But our talented and dedicated staff, now led by interim CEO Jennifer Cronenberg, and numerous board members and other members, worked long hours to meet these challenges and to prepare NOSSCR for a new period of growth to better serve our members and our disabled clients.

We should all be pleased with the new board members who will join our leadership team – their energy, ideas, and experience couldn’t come at a better or more important time. As I’ve discussed in previous articles, NOSSCR has a unique opportunity to help Commissioner Bisignano radically reform SSA’s disability operations, an opportunity that comes only once every couple of generations, and that must be seized quickly before political forces change the direction of events. And don’t forget the NOSSCR PAC – your regular donations in any amount, are the key to getting the attention of members of Congress to support these necessary reforms.

Also high on our priority list is NOSSCR’s core value of providing our members with the best available legal information and training to better represent our clients. Our national conferences are invaluable in terms of advancing legal skills through continuing legal education and building community among our members, and they are a critical source of income for our operations. Our next national conference in Salt Lake City in October is shaping up to be a fantastic event. Please do NOSSCR and yourself a favor by registering soon and booking your room with conference hotel.

The NOSSCR Foundation is another important initiative that I hope our new board members and membership at large will support. One of our important goals is to use the NOSSCR Foundation to provide grants to non-profit members, including legal service members, to attend our national conferences and other educational events. Non-profit organizations often work on tight budgets while providing critical legal services to thousands of claimants who would otherwise go unrepresented. We should remember that many of the founders of NOSSCR came from a legal services background. They are valued members of our community who deserve our support.

Last of all, I’d like to remind all NOSSCR members that there are many ways to serve our organization in addition to your membership, attendance at conferences, or financial support – making a CLE presentation, writing an article for the Forum, or serving on a committee. If you would like to serve on the NOSSCR board, visit the board of directors page on the NOSSCR website where you will find a form to submit to express your interest. Thank you all for helping make NOSSCR the wonderful organization it strives to be.

---

Contributions to the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives PAC (NOSSCR PAC) are not tax-deductible as a charitable contribution for federal income tax purposes. Contributions to NOSSCR PAC will be used to support federal and state candidates, political parties, and other political committees. Contributions are strictly voluntary. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. Any proposed contribution level is merely a suggestion, and you are free to contribute more or less than suggested. You will not benefit or be disadvantaged by reason of the amount of your contribution or a decision not to contribute. Federal law requires NOSSCR PAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer of persons whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. You must be a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the U.S. to contribute.