USPS Responds to Issa Postal Reform Bill

Statement on Legislation Introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa

We thank House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) for introducing the Postal Reform Act of 2011 and look forward to working with him as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

While there are several provisions in the bill that we agree with, the bill appears to be based on the assumption that the Postal Service’s challenges result from too little regulation. The opposite is true. Our financial instability is the result of dramatic loss in volumes, coupled with restrictions imposed by Congress that have prevented the Postal Service from adequately responding to those losses in a business-like fashion.

We strongly oppose a provision in the bill that provides for an additional $10 billion in borrowing authority from the U.S. Treasury. The Postal Service does not need to incur additional debt — we need the money back that is already owed to us. We also strongly oppose sections of the bill that would create more government bureaucracy and slow our progress on streamlining our operations.

Also, we are disappointed that Rep. Issa’s bill does not address core issues that Congress needs to address to enable the Postal Service to return to financial stability, including the need to:

  • Eliminate the current mandates requiring retiree health benefit pre-payments, which costs the Postal Service $5.5 billion annually.
  • Allow the Postal Service to access Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) overpayments. The FERS overpayment is estimated to be $6.9 billion.

We are pleased that the bill recognizes the need for a change in delivery frequency. The bill’s provision to move to five-day delivery would save the Postal Service $3.1 billion annually.

The need for legislative change is urgent. Despite significant and ongoing cost cutting actions and progress on new revenue generation, the Postal Service is in danger of running out of cash as early as this October.

5 Responses to "USPS Responds to Issa Postal Reform Bill"

  1. Paul Ivie says:
    Your comment is awaiting moderation.(Revised Previous statement)
    August 17, 2011 at 4:11 pmI concur with Mr. Heinrich’s observations & proposals listed above. However, I believe we are also going to have to make changes to the NLRB concerning how they regulate binding collective bargaining agreements before we arbitrarily nullify previously agreed to contracts with UPS & Postal Workers.I don’t believe our forefathers envisioned the creation of unions when they established the provision for the postal service listed in Article I section 8 of the contitution:7: “To establish Post Offices and post Roads;” I also support the following provisions stated in the above article:
    Eliminate the current mandates requiring retiree health benefit pre-payments, which costs the Postal Service $5.5 billion annually.
    Allow the Postal Service to access Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) overpayments. The FERS overpayment is estimated to be $6.9 billion..Allowing this entity to borrow money to fund it’s previously negotiated agreement is unconsciouabble when our country is virtually bankrupt. Maybe it’s time we amended our constitution and turn our postal system over to the private sector.

  2. HR 2309: Postal Reform Act of 2011
    Sent yo Rep. Issa on 7/21

    I will not dwell on the issues of US Postal Services overpayments to its pension accounts or the congressional mandate requiring the USPS to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees. What I wish to do is focus on the issues that this resolution is erroneously attempting to attack.

    USPS – Salaries:

    If someone would take the time to compare the salary structure of the USPS versus FedEx and UPS they will find virtually no difference. FedEx and UPS are the comparable private sector organizations that should be compared to the USPS. Comparison to other private organizations is not relevant.

    What will the negative impact of a salary reduction forced on 600,000+ workers be upon the economy of the United States? Has anyone sat down with a pencil and paper and done a + / – on this issue? Probably not. How much less would these postal workers spend on non-essential items? What would be the impact on the travel industry, the home construction industry, the automobile industry (by the way you gave GM $54 Billion in bailout monies). The impact will be NEGATIVE! Does anyone see that?

    Mail Pricing – Postal Regulatory Commission:

    Post Office competition, FedEx and UPS, is not regulated by the Postal Regulatory Commission. Their rates are in no way as economical as the USPS. Requests for changes by the post office generally are pushed aside or analyzed by the commission for so long that they are of little value if ever approved. The USPS is charged by the government with the responsibility of conducting business as a private corporation. How would you like to operate your own business with someone else mandating your pricing structure. How much may I ask do FedEx and UPS lobbyists spend to exert control over the decisions made by the Postal Regulatory Commission. A great savings in bureaucratic ignorance and governmental spending could be achieved by doing away with the Postal Regulatory Commission. Let the USPS live or die on its own.

    Facility Closings:

    Once again this should be the result of a business operating on its own without the Postal Regulatory Commission dictating its pricing structure and therefore its overall revenues. We do not need another commission created to determine how many and which facilities will be closed. Mail service should be available to all Americans. When we close the small postal facility where do people go. You and I would probably spend $25 with UPS to mail the same item we would have spent $7 at the post office to ship so we do not have to drive back and forth for 30 minutes to another post office, burn that cheap gasoline our governmental leadership supplies us with and not be able to use our time more productively. How much more the average American is forced to spend on mail services will be another negative to the overall national economy. UPS and FedEx will be happy campers since the business will come to them through the assistance of the government. ( PS: Should a special commission be created to determine which facilities will be closed please assign me to it so I can make sure my local post office stays open. Don’t forget now!)

    Give the Post Office the proper means to operate as an independent company in all areas. Let the Post Office live or die on its own merits.

    There are issues to face that are of much greater importance to the future of my country. I have the distinct impression that our representatives in Congress have forgotten about:

    • Drug Problem
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Illegal Immigration
    • Iraq and Afghanistan
    • National Debt & Trade Deficits
    • Terrorism
    • Unemployment
    • Corruption in the Banking Industry
    • Corruption in the Financial Industry (Wall Street)

  3. In Northern VA, the rural carrier craft are being dealt blunt and brutal pay cuts yet the big wigs pockets are remaining the same .Mail counts year after year will be the trend. The rural carrier craft is the only craft that has taken cuts in pay as a result of the decline in mail. We have postmasters that stand at the distributions cases and on a daily basis over observe the veteran distribution clerks perform their job functions.They stand behind veteran carriers as if they will case faster with eyes all over them. Management is micro managing because they have no credible work to do. There are too many managers and supervisors and not enough work for them. We will fail at the alarming and wasteful rate that we are going. As a result of them having no work to do they do street observations and find the most ridiculous things to issue discipline.

  4. Cutting jobs and hours and new revenue generation aren’t enough? How about cutting the fat off the top? Cease and desist unnecessary, wasteful spending. Cut out all dinners, luncheons and breakfast meetings. Stop the credit card abuse. No company cars and no foreign travel. Make postmasters in charge of more than one office. cut unnecessary administration jobs. Cut the PMG’s salary; does he need to earn more than the Vice President?? The list goes on. Stop sticking it to the public and the craft employees, which will only discourage revenue and customer loyalty. Why does no one in congress see this??

  5. Hey Post Office, don’t be surprised that you are crapped on when you come, hat in hand begging for a hand out…….yes, trying to recover so called over payments is begging.

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