April 23, 2009
APWU.org

Legislation that is desperately needed to save the Postal Service from a crushing financial crisis continues to garner support in the House of Representatives.
 
As of April 23, 274 members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 22 [PDF], which would modify a provision of the 2006 postal “reform” law that drains the Postal Service of billions of dollars per year and has contributed to a crisis so severe that it threatens the viability of the nation’s 235-year-old postal system.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requires the USPS to spend more than $5 billion per year from 2006 through 2016 to pre-fund retiree healthcare benefits from its operating budget. No other federal agency is subject to this requirement.

Despite drastic cuts in work hours and other savings, in Fiscal Year 2008 the USPS suffered a net loss of $2.8 billion. The Postal Service could save as much as $3.5 billion a year through 2016 if this amendment to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act were to become law, Postmaster General John E. Potter said in testimony before a Senate subcommittee early this year. Read more