Column: Ex-heads of U.S. Social Security Administration offer plan to fix agency’s customer service

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A worsening customer service crisis at the Social Security Administration has prompted three of its former commissioners to urge the U.S. Congress to fix the annual budgeting process that has starved the agency of the resources it needs to do its job.

A letter calling for administrative budget reforms signed by the former commissioners – two appointed by Democratic presidents, and one by a Republican – will be delivered to congressional leadership later on Wednesday.

An advance copy of the letter was provided to this column by the authors, and by advocates pushing for reform of the Social Security budget process. It will be sent to 19 key lawmakers, including the leadership of both parties and the chairs and ranking members of all the key congressional committees controlling budget, appropriations and finance.

To read the letter and view the list of recipients, see: (bit.ly/2KnIt3C)