Office of Rep. Derek Kilmer press launch.
Tacoma, WA – This month, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in urging the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to undertake a assessment or sequence of opinions of the efforts of the federal authorities to enhance constituent going through company operations. In a letter to the Comptroller General of the United States and head of GAO, the lawmakers famous that too many Americans – and notably weak residents – are spending helpful time, power, and assets to entry federal authorities and federally funded state social applications.
“Recently, one particular issue that has continued to come up in our conversations with constituents has been the enormous amount of time and energy that low- and middle- income Americans have to spend navigating administrative requirements and paperwork when dealing with federal agencies. We’re hopeful that with your partnership, we can help find ways for these folks to spend less time dealing with the government and more time with their families and communities,” the lawmakers wrote.
They continued, “Throughout our time in Congress, our offices have heard from thousands of constituents seeking help dealing with the maze-like procedural hurdles that ordinary people must navigate to get the support and resources to which they are legally entitled. Moms struggling to get nutrition assistance to feed their kids. Folks who have lost their jobs but who can’t get unemployment insurance. Working families trying to access affordable housing resources. Applying for these programs often involves navigating confusing websites, filling out extensive paperwork, and answering often invasive and confusing questions. When people fall into crisis, have a child with complex medical needs, develop a disability, or take on the care and administrative work for an aging parent, they have to become their own advocate in the confusing system of social program bureaucracy. […] We are requesting that GAO undertake a review or series of reviews of the efforts of the federal government to improve constituent facing agency operations.”
Rep. Kilmer was joined by U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse, Kathleen Rice, Doug LaMalfa, Angie Craig, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Jimmy Panetta, Scott Peters, Lucy McBath, and Sara Jacobs.
August 15, 2022
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The Honorable Gene L. Dodaro
Comptroller General
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20548
Dear Comptroller General Dodaro,
We sincerely respect the work you and the complete staff on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) do to assist make authorities work higher for the American folks. Since its inception, the GAO has proved to be an important accomplice within the work Congress has undertaken to make America extra truthful, equal, and free.
Recently, one specific difficulty that has continued to come up in our conversations with constituents has been the large period of time and power that low- and middle- earnings Americans have to spend navigating administrative necessities and paperwork when coping with federal companies. We’re hopeful that together with your partnership, we may also help discover methods for these people to spend much less time coping with the federal government and extra time with their households and communities.
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Throughout our time in Congress, our workplaces have heard from 1000’s of constituents looking for assist coping with the maze-like procedural hurdles that atypical folks should navigate to get the help and assets to which they’re legally entitled. Moms struggling to get vitamin help to feed their children. Folks who’ve misplaced their jobs however who can’t get unemployment insurance coverage. Working households making an attempt to entry inexpensive housing assets. Applying for these applications usually includes navigating complicated web sites, filling out intensive paperwork, and answering usually invasive and complicated questions. When folks fall into disaster, have a baby with complicated medical wants, develop a incapacity, or tackle the care and administrative work for an growing old mother or father, they’ve to change into their very own advocate within the complicated system of social program paperwork.
For far too many Americans – and notably for weak residents – coping with the federal authorities and federally funded state social applications usually consumes helpful time, power, and assets. One particular person experiencing poverty put it this fashion for Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s Poverty Reduction Work Group: “Most of the time I am like, what’s the secret handshake? How do I navigate this to get what I need? The burden of figuring out the system is on the people being served … it’s a full-time job.”
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Last summer time, journalist Annie Lowrey of The Atlantic coined a brand new time period – the “time tax” – to characterize the time that Americans spend every year combating with their very own authorities’s paperwork.
In her July 2021 article, Lowrey conveys that the “time tax” Americans face after they work together with the federal authorities doesn’t fall equitably upon all residents. Rather, the time tax disproportionately impacts the poorest and most socioeconomically deprived members of our society who’re looking for help from applications that help with vitamin help, housing subsidies, and training and little one care help – together with the Supplemental Nutrition Security Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC), Section 8 Housing vouchers, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) transfers. According to Lowrey, all of those applications require prolonged utility paperwork, persevering with verification paperwork, and – for a couple of applications – in particular person interviews earlier than help will likely be accepted. For most poor and weak Americans, these utility procedures can take huge quantities of time each month to carry on prime of, and one mistake can lead to cancellation of advantages with little advance discover. But the failure of presidency to work optimally for the folks it serves doesn’t cease on the poverty line. All Americans face the time tax, whether or not as a small enterprise proprietor ready months for an SBA mortgage utility choice, or a veteran making an attempt to navigate VA companies.
In Congress we’ve and can proceed to work in a bipartisan approach to discover methods to make authorities work higher for our constituents. The “time tax” is a failure of the federal authorities on this entrance. The financial system can’t work properly when small enterprise house owners can’t get the SBA help they want. The financial system can’t work properly when mother and father are spending hours and hours worrying about whether or not they’ll give you the chance to feed their youngsters as a result of they may have made a small mistake on their earnings verification varieties for SNAP. The financial system can’t work properly when hardworking Americans have to spend hours on maintain with the IRS making an attempt to get their very own a refund from the federal government. When the federal government doesn’t work properly for the folks it serves, it holds the entire financial system again from rising as quick because it ought to. To this finish, we have been happy to hear that President Biden signed an govt order on the “time tax” on December 13th, directing federal companies to enhance the “customer experience” for Americans interacting with the federal authorities. Additionally, the President’s Management Agenda contains as a key precedence, Delivering Excellent, Equitable, and Secure Federal Services and Customer Experience. Among different methods, it duties the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to enhance the service design, digital merchandise, and customer-experience administration of Federal High-Impact Service Providers by decreasing buyer burden, addressing inequities, and streamlining processes.
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We are requesting that GAO undertake a assessment or sequence of opinions of the efforts of the federal authorities to enhance constituent going through company operations. Specifically, we wish GAO to deal with the next questions associated to federal buyer expertise and administrative burden:
- How is OMB working with the General Services Administration to implement methods associated to bettering buyer expertise throughout the federal authorities? In addition, have any companies taken particular actions to adjust to the manager order talked about above?
- To what extent have these companies which have the best variety of Americans using their companies, together with these companies that oversee broadly used applications administered on the native degree (e.g. SNAP, TANF, WIC), taken actions to enhance federal buyer expertise and repair supply for the general public?
- To what extent has knowledge and steering been developed on service supply of buyer life experiences at chosen companies? For instance, some applications require eligibility paperwork to be submitted on paper through the mail, or eligibility appointments to happen in-person, which may very well be a barrier for some households.
- What steps are chosen companies taking to scale back the paperwork burden on the general public, and specifically, the burden on underserved and marginalized communities? For instance, are companies factoring within the time it takes to fill out a proposed new kind and are additionally they accounting for the time it prices to gather the knowledge wanted to fill out that kind (e.g. well being care historical past) and to present any extra documentation (gathering well being care data)? Furthermore, are chosen companies collaborating (through coverage modifications and safe knowledge sharing) so as to discover methods to scale back the paperwork burden on the general public? Are companies hiring particular Customer Experience specialists to work in the direction of this aim or counting on inside workers?
- What challenges do companies face in addressing OMB’s steering talked about above to extra utterly and transparently articulate burdens and related prices skilled by the general public when accessing important public advantages applications? Are there particular statutory, regulatory, or govt orders that pose obstacles to coverage modifications?
- How may companies then use this evaluation to reduce the “Time Tax”, with specific emphasis on these people and entities most adversely affected, per the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995?
- In GAO’s opinion, may a “common application” be one potential device used with the aim of offering Americans with handy entry to a number of companies which are wanted by folks experiencing poverty, a unified cap on complete advantages, and a unified taper to scale back complete advantages steadily as employment earnings will increase? What obstacles, statutory, regulatory, or in any other case, exist in relation to a standard utility for social security web applications?
Government wants to work higher – for youngsters rising up in poverty, for disabled veterans, and for all Americans. We respect your immediate consideration to this matter – and look ahead to working with you to get authorities working higher for the oldsters we characterize.
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