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November 30, 2001
President George Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington, D.C. 20502
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing on behalf of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel (the Panel) and the millions of Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income recipients with disabilities, to urge the immediate issuance of the implementing regulations for the Ticket to Work and Self Sufficiency Program (the Ticket Program). These regulations were forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on August 21, 2001, for their review. The Social Security Administration (SSA) forwarded a revised version of the regulations to OMB on November 15, based on extensive consultations between the SSA and OMB staffs. These final regulations are critically important to the Administration's efforts under the New Freedom Initiative to increase opportunities for people with disabilities to begin or return to work.
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel is a bipartisan Panel within the Social Security Administration established by the Congress and appointed by the President and the Congress to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on issues related to work incentive programs, planning and assistance for individuals with disabilities. At the Panel's quarterly meeting in November 2001, Panel members expressed deep concerns about the delay in the Ticket Program's implementation because final regulations have not been issued. There is, as well, growing frustration in the disability community nationally that, because of the considerable time it is taking to get final regulations issued, the Ticket Program remains an unfulfilled promise. For this reason the Panel unanimously voted to request that final regulations be issued immediately.
The Ticket legislation was signed into law in December 1999, after strong bi-partisan support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Leaders of both parties spoke of swift implementation and promised a new era in which people with disabilities seeking employment will have real choices and benefit from true competition in the field of employment services and rehabilitation. It has been almost two years since the passage of the legislation and people with disabilities, their families and rehabilitation providers are anxiously awaiting the start of the Program. For many of us it is very discouraging to note that after 24 months, not one Ticket has been issued to a beneficiary.
We commend you on the announcement of the New Freedom Initiative in February 2001, and on your continuing commitment to address the needs and concerns of people with disabilities by increasing access to assistive technologies, expanding opportunities, increasing the ability of individuals with disabilities to integrate into the work force and promoting increased integration into the community. In the New Freedom Initiative you referenced the implementation of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. You stated, "Through Executive Action the Administration is committed to supporting agencies in the continued swift implementation of this law." Swift issuance of the final implementing regulations is what the Panel is now urging.
Again, we request that you direct the immediate issuance of these important implementing regulations so that the Ticket to Work Program's promises of real choice and expanded services for millions of Americans with disabilities who want to work can be fulfilled.
Sincerely,
Sarah Wiggins Mitchell
Chairperson
cc: The Honorable Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
Director, Office of Management and Budget
The Honorable Jo Anne B. Barnhart
Commissioner of Social Security
The Honorable William M. Thomas
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means
House of Representatives
The Honorable Max S. Baucus
Chairman, Committee on Finance
United States Senate
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