Social Security Administration Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you received a one-time Economic Recovery Payment in 2009 and you worked during the year, it might affect your federal tax return

Learn more about Social Security and Health Information Technology

Read Our Fact Sheet About the One-Time Economic Recovery Payment

More information about the Economic Recovery One-Time Payment

Civil Rights Obligations

Recovery Act Contacts

Information Quality Act

Recovery Act and Lobbyists

Agency-wide Recovery Act Plan

One-Time Economic Recovery Payment Plan

Disability and Retirement Workload Plan

National Support Center Plan

Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

Our responsibilities under the Recovery Act include replacing the National Computer Center, dedicating additional resources to the processing of disability and retirement workloads, and issuing a one-time payment of $250 to nearly 55 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. We expect to deliver most of the $250 one-time payments by late May 2009. Our Office of the Inspector General received additional funding for oversight and audit of programs, projects, and activities funded in the Recovery Act. Click on the Major Communication link for more details on each of our Recovery Act programs.

Agency Plans and Reports

We will report weekly on the status of Recovery Act implementation by program, including major actions taken to date and major actions planned for the future. You can view any weekly report located on the bottom of this web page. We encourage you to check back often for updates.

We have posted Agency plans for use of Recovery Act funds. There is an overall Agency level plan and three program specific plans: administration of the One-Time $250 Economic Recovery Payments; addressing Disability and Retirement Workloads, including the development of health information technology; and building a new National Support Center. Those plans can be accessed by clicking on the plan buttons on the right of this website.

Our Office of the Inspector General will be reporting its plans and reports separately on its own Recovery Act website.

Learn more about our programs

We recently unveiled our new online retirement application and launched the Retire Online campaign. You can complete the new online retirement application in as little as 15 minutes from the comfort of your home or office. To learn more about our programs and initiatives, check out www.socialsecurity.gov. It’s so easy!