THIS MONTH IN SOCIAL SECURITY HISTORY

October 1, 1935 The existence of the Committee on Economic Security terminated when the Social Security Board came into operation as the permanent agency to administer the legislation of the Social Security Act. The Board was located in Room 6111, Department of Labor Building, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C., Telephone Number District 6-450.

October 14, 1936 The first field office was opened at Austin, Texas.

October 21, 1940 The Appeals Council of the Social Security Board, after reviewing an appealed referee decision relating to a claim for old-age and survivors benefits, handed down its first decision.

October 24, 1957 Marion B. Folsom, Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, announced the appointment of a twelve-man Advisory Council to review the long range financial position of the Social Security system.

October 5, 1961 President Kennedy signed into law Public Law 87-397, a law designed to cut down on tax cheating by assigning a tax identity number to every taxpayer. The Social Security identification number would be used as the tax identity number, and those persons without Social Security numbers would be assigned a tax number by the Internal Revenue Service.

October 12, 1966 President Johnson visited the Social Security Administration's headquarters to participate in the 15th Annual Honor Awards Ceremony.

October 16, 1972 Arthur J. Altmeyer, Social Security's first Commissioner, died.

October 30, 1972 President Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-603). The law liberalized several of the cash benefit provisions, made substantial changes in Medicare, revised the contribution schedule, amended some coverage provisions, and established a new Federal security income program for the needy aged, blind and disabled (the SSI program).

October 9, 1984 Disability Benefits Reform Act of 1984 signed into law.

October 22, 1986 President Reagan signed into law the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Among its provisions, the law required that every dependent age 5 or older listed on a tax return had to have their own Social Security number. This new requirement doubled SSA's enumeration workload in the following year.

October 1, 1988 Nationwide 800 number service implemented.

October 31, 1997 At the stroke of midnight, 325 Connecticut residents became the first in the nation to lose their welfare benefits under the time limits of the "welfare reform" legislation enacted in 1996. The 1996 law placed a time-limit of 60 months on lifetime welfare benefits, with the provision that States could set shorter limits, and the States were given some flexibility in defining when their limits would take effect. For various reasons, Connecticut's 21-month time limit became the first in the nation to actually take effect, resulting in the termination of benefits to this group of former welfare recipients.

October 28, 1998 The President signed the Noncitizen Benefit Clarification and Other Technical Amendments Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-306). This bill, among other provisions, restores SSI eligibility to certain groups of non-citizen beneficiaries who would otherwise have lost their SSI eligibility under the provisions of the 1996 welfare reform legislation.

October 27, 1998 As part of the national discussion on Social Security, the President hosted a roundtable discussion on women and retirement security at the White House on October 27. The White House released a paper, Women and Retirement Security at this event which details some basic facts on women and retirement, including the importance of Social Security

October 1, 1999 SSA began mailing 125 million Social Security Statements to all workers 25 years of age or older. Statements will now be sent on an annual basis.

October 1, 2003 SSA Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart unveiled an historical marker on Baltimore's Candler Building to commemorate the building as the site of SSA's first operational headquarters. SSA occupied the building on Baltimore's Inner Harbor from October 1936 until January 1960.

October 2, 2003 Sylvester J. Schieber was appointed as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board for a six-year term.