# Plain Language Summary: Keeping Our Field Offices Open Act

This bill prevents the Social Security Administration from closing or consolidating its local field offices, hearing offices, and resident stations for the next four years. These are the physical locations where people go in person to handle Social Security matters like applying for benefits, appealing decisions, or getting help with their accounts. The bill essentially freezes any office closures or consolidations until at least January 2029, with a temporary exception only for emergency situations like natural disasters or public health crises.

After that four-year freeze ends, the bill doesn't eliminate closures entirely—it just makes them much harder to do. If Social Security wants to close or consolidate offices in the future, they'll have to jump through significant hoops. They must give the public at least 120 days' notice, hold at least two public hearings where people can voice concerns, and submit detailed reports to Congress explaining their reasoning. The agency must analyze the impact on elderly and disabled people who might struggle to travel to distant offices, calculate the actual costs and savings, and explain how they'll replace the lost services. Importantly, the total number of offices can never drop below what existed on January 20, 2025—so even after the freeze ends, Social Security can't reduce its overall office footprint.

For everyday people, this matters most if you rely on in-person visits to Social Security offices. If you're elderly, disabled, live in a rural area, or simply prefer handling important matters face-to-face rather than online or by phone, this bill protects your access to local services. It prevents the agency from quietly closing your neighborhood office without public input or consideration of how that affects people who can't easily travel. The bill essentially says that before Social Security can make these changes, the public gets a real voice through hearings and Congress gets detailed information about the decision.

Keeping Our Field Offices Open Act

Larson, John B.

Keeping Our Field Offices Open ActThis bill temporarily prohibits the closure or consolidation of, or other limitation of access to, Social Security Administration (SSA) offices and stations, and sets forth procedural requirements for future changes to office and station availability.&nbsp;Specifically, the bill prohibits through at least January 21, 2029, the closure or consolidation of, or other limitation of access to, SSA field offices, hearing offices, and resident stations. On or after that date, SSA must submit a report to Congress justifying its process for selecting stations and offices to be closed, consolidated, or limited. The prohibition is lifted 180 days after the submission of such report.&nbsp;The bill also sets forth requirements that must be met before SSA may close, consolidate, or otherwise limit access to an office or station after the initial moratorium expires. At least 120 days before such a change takes effect, SSA must provide public notice to individuals in affected areas, including information on how lost access to SSA services will be replaced. SSA must also conduct at least two public hearings on each such change.&nbsp;Further, SSA must provide a hearing to any individual who makes a timely showing that a determination to close, consolidate, or limit an office or station is arbitrary, capricious, or deficient in another specified manner.&nbsp;Finally, a closure, consolidation, or limitation may not result in the total number of SSA offices or stations falling below the number of such offices or stations in operation on January 20, 2025.&nbsp;