|
|
|
House
Passes Postal Reform Bill
Davis, McHugh: House Delivers Overwhelming
Victory on Postal Reform
Approves Bill to Ensure Solvency of U.S. Postal Service
(7/26/05)
|
|
House Rules Committee Approves Four Amendments for
Consideration to Postal Overhaul Bill-(APWU
) The committee rejected consideration of an amendment to H.R. 22, the Postal
Accountability and Enhancement Act, that would have severely limited the
benefits of injured workers after postal unions asked their members to contact
their representatives and urge them to vote against such an amendment.
(7/26)
-
NAPS: White House Seeking Additional Reforms
to Postal Bill
-
Letter:
NALC, NRLCA Presidents Urge Support of Postal Reform Bill (pdf)
-
Return to Sender |
Congress Has Loaded Agenda This Week
|
|
Postal Reform Legislation
Introduced in Senate on March 17, 2005
Senate Rescheduled
Postal Reform Hearing:
The Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs will hold a public hearing on Thursday,
April 14, 2005,
at 2:00 p.m. in Room SD-342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, titled:
"U.S. Postal Service: What is Needed to Ensure its Future Viability?"
A mark-up of the bill by the Committee will
soon follow. A variety of amendments -- including those advocated by individual
Committee members, the Bush administration and various interest groups --
will be debated at that time.
NAPUS eNewsletter:
CBO Slashes Cost of Postal Reform Bill by $4.5 Billion (pdf)
On Monday (April 25, 2005), the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) released its estimate that enactment of the Postal Enhancement
and Accountability Act (H.R. 22) would have a 10-year cost of $4.5 billion
less than last year’s legislation. (A similar reduction is anticipated for
S. 662.) Nonetheless, CBO projected that H.R. 22 would still reduce federal
revenue by $5.9 billion. This “cost” is attributable primarily to eliminating
the CSRS escrow account. Beginning in 2006, the account would contain USPS
Civil Service Retirement System overpayments. Since the USPS would not overpay
the U.S. Treasury, the correction counts as revenue lost by the government
and would raise the federal budget deficit.
-
CBO 2005 Cost Estimate: H.R. 22 Postal Accountability
and Enhancement Act (pdf)
APWU: White House Continues Opposition to Key
Provisions of Postal Reform Bills-"One
proposal, endorsed at the hearing by both
Potter and Walker, would make postal workers' healthcare and retirement
benefits, which are currently guaranteed by law, "negotiable" in the collective
bargaining process. Another, suggested by Walker, called for adjustments
to the wage standards used in contract negotiations."
Neither of the two proposals is included in
the pending legislation
White House
adamantly opposed to Senate postal bill-
Senate
supporters of postal overhaul legislation contend they have changed their
bill to accommodate White House concerns, but administration officials say
they are not budging from their opposition because several benefit provisions
are still too expensive. During his testimony, Treasury official
Timothy S. Bitsberger
said the Postal Service has obscured "the real reason" for the proposed
rate hike. "The reality is that any additional financial requirements of
the Postal Service can be directly attributed to its inability to sufficiently
reduce its costs," Bitsberger said. He noted USPS covers a higher percentage
of its employees' health benefits than most government agencies
Postal Reform bill goes to full House; Senate mark-up set
Panel
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Timothy S. Bitsberger
, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
for Financial Markets , U.S. Department of the Treasury
Accompanied by: Roger Kodat
, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Government
Financial Policy , U.S. Department of the Treasury
Dan G. Blair ,
Acting Director , U. S. Office of Personnel
Management
John E. Potter
, Postmaster General , United States
Postal Service ,
David M. Walker ,
Comptroller General of the United States
, United States Government Accountability Office
|
|
Summary of Collins-Carper Postal Accountability And Enhancement
Act Of 2005
-
Preserves universal and
affordable mail service.
-
Preserves the USPS that
employs more than 750,000 career employees and is the linchpin of a $900
billion mailing industry that employs up to 11 million Americans in fields
as diverse as direct mailing, printing, catalog production, paper manufacturing,
and financial services.
-
Grants the Postal Service
Board of Governors the authority to set rates for competitive products
like Express Mail and Parcel Post, as long as these prices do not result
in cross subsidy from market-dominant products. Establishes a 30-day
prior review period during which the proposed rate changes shall be reviewed
by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
-
Replaces the current lengthy
and litigious rate-setting process with a rate cap-based structure for
market-dominant products such as First-Class Mail, periodicals and library
mail. Price changes for market-dominant products would be subject
to a 45-day prior review period by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
-
Introduces new safeguards
against unfair competition by the Postal Service in competitive markets.
Subsidization of competitive products by market-dominant products would
be expressly forbidden, and an equitable allocation of institutional costs
to competitive products would be required.
-
Transforms the existing
Postal Rate Commission into the Postal Regulatory Commission with greatly
enhanced authority to ensure that the Postal Service management has greater
latitude and stronger oversight. Among other things, the Postal
Regulatory Commission will have the authority to regulate rates for non-competitive
products and services; ensure financial transparency; establish limits
on the accumulation of retained earnings by the Postal Service; obtain
information from the Postal Service, if need be, through the use of new
subpoena power; and review and act on complaints filed by those who believe
the Postal Service has exceeded its authority.
-
-
Requires the Postal Service
to file with the Postal Regulatory Commission certain Securities and Exchange
Commission financial disclosure forms, along with detailed annual reports
on the status of the Postal Service’s pension and postretirement health
obligations in order to ensure increased financial transparency.
-
-
Reaffirms USPS employees’
right to collectively bargain. This bill only makes changes to the
bargaining process that have been agreed to by both the Postal Service
and the four major unions. It replaces the rarely used fact-finding
process with mediation, and shortens statutory deadlines for certain phases
of the bargaining process.
-
Protects the financial
resources of the Postal Service by converting workers’ compensation benefits
for total or partial disability to a retirement annuity when the affected
employee reaches 65 years of age.
-
Puts into place a three-day
waiting period before an employee is eligible to receive 45 days of continuation
of pay. This is consistent with every state’s workers’ compensation
program that requires a three- to seven-day waiting period before benefits
are paid.
-
Supports the principle
that workshare discounts, which enable customers to pay lower rates when
they perform mail preparation or transportation activities, should generally
not exceed the costs that the Postal Service avoids as a result of the
worksharing activity. However, the bill spells out certain circumstances
under which workshare discounts in excess of avoided costs are warranted.
-
Repeals a provision of
Public Law 108-18 which requires that money owed to the Postal Service
due to an overpayment into the Civil Service Retirement System Fund be
held in an escrow account, which would essentially “free up” $78 billion
over a period of 60 years. These savings would be used to not only
pay off debt to the U.S. Treasury and to fund health care liabilities,
but also to mitigate rate increases.
-
Returns to the Department
of Treasury the responsibility for funding CSRS pension benefits relating
to the military service of postal retirees. No other agency is required
to make this payment.
The
Collins-Carper postal reform legislation is endorsed by the National Association
of Postmasters of the United States, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association,
National Association of Postal Supervisors, Financial Services Roundtable,
and the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, which represents
thousands of the major mailers, employee groups, small businesses, and other
users of the mail.
|
|
|
