00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29                                                                     
01 Supporting the Disability Law Center of Alaska's inquiry into the United States Social                                  
02 Security Administration's disproportionate denial of social security disability insurance                               
03 and supplemental security income claims in the state.                                                                   
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS the United States Social Security Administration provides social security                               
06 disability insurance and supplemental security income benefits to qualifying individuals; and                           
07       WHEREAS many hard-working Alaskans and their families rely on social security                                   
08 disability insurance and supplemental security income benefits to meet their basic financial                            
09 and health care needs; and                                                                                              
10       WHEREAS the United States Social Security Administration has established a                                      
11 process through which individuals in every state may apply for benefits and appeal denial of                            
12 those benefits; and                                                                                                     
13       WHEREAS the initial approval rate for social security disability insurance and                                  
14 supplemental security income benefits in this state is similar to that of other states, but appeals                     
15 in this state are routinely denied at a significantly higher statistical rate than are appeals in                       

01 other states; and                                                                                                       
02       WHEREAS, in recent year, the gap between the percentage of appeals denied in this                               
03 state and those denied in comparable states has grown at an alarming rate; and                                          
04       WHEREAS individual appeal denials negatively affect children with disabilities,                                 
05 adults with disabilities, veterans, the elderly, and their families; and                                                
06       WHEREAS the high rate of denials also affects the overall financial and social well-                            
07 being of communities and the state as a whole; and                                                                      
08       WHEREAS the Disability Law Center of Alaska is examining what appears to be an                                  
09 inexplicably low rate of hearing approvals for social security disability insurance and                                 
10 supplemental security income appeals over the past several years;                                                       
11       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the commitment of the                                 
12 Disability Law Center of Alaska to investigate and assess the integrity of the social security                          
13 disability insurance and supplemental security income appeal process in the state and to                                
14 ensure that Alaskans with disabilities receive the benefits to which they are legally entitled.                         
15       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
16 the United States; the Honorable Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of the United                                   
17 States Social Security Administration; the Disability Law Center of Alaska; and the                                     
18 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the                                          
19 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.