The Postal Service Reform Act of 2018 includes a comprehensive package of reforms that would put the Postal Service on firm financial footing, stabilize and improve service performance, allow for the\u00a0development of new products and services, and enhance transparency.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly two and a half centuries after its founding, the Postal Service remains an important part of our everyday lives and plays a vital role in our economy,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Carper.<\/b>\u00a0\u201cBut it continues to lose money at a record pace. Our economy still depends on a healthy and robust Postal Service.\u00a0It\u2019s our duty in Congress to pave a fiscally sustainable path that will enable this American institution to thrive\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. Postal Service has a significant history in Kansas \u2013 dating back to the Pony Express \u2013 and it continues to play a vital role in the American economy, especially in Kansas\u2019 rural communities,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Moran<\/b>. \u201cRural America depends on a reliable Postal Service. USPS\u2019s deteriorating financial condition threatens its future and the well-being of the communities it serves. In order to provide certainty for rural America and protect taxpayers, Congress must act to put the Postal Service on a more sustainable path. This bipartisan legislation would provide some much needed stability, preserving and improving mail services across Kansas and the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no substitute for the Postal Service in rural America,\u201d\u00a0said Senator Heitkamp.<\/b>\u00a0\u201cFrom receiving daily newspapers and prescriptions, to shipping products around the nation, families and businesses across the country rely on getting their mail on time in an accessible, affordable manner. Congress needs to act now to stabilize the Postal Service and give it the tools it needs to thrive \u2013 otherwise it will go insolvent, taking this critical service away from rural communities that need it. Across North Dakota, I\u2019ve heard about problems with mail delivery and service and I\u2019ve pushed for changes from the Postal Service through my Fix My Mail initiative. Now, our bipartisan, comprehensive bill would reform the Postal Service, put it on firmer financial footing, and help improve mail delivery and service in rural communities. Far too often, rural America gets the short end of the stick, and Congress needs to step up and pass our bill so the Postal Service can fully function and remain the great equalizer that enables Americans no matter where they live to get reliable, affordable mail delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPost office access and efficient service are issues that families and businesses in rural Missouri care about, and we\u2019ve got to do what it takes to ensure the service they\u2019ve relied on for generations stays intact,\u201d\u00a0said Senator McCaskill.<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThis is an issue where we can and should continue to work together across the aisle and I\u2019m committed to doing exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stakeholders in the industry also support the bill:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is vital that Congress act promptly to pass legislation that will ensure affordable, reliable mail service six days a week,\u201d said\u00a0Don Hall, CEO of Hallmark Cards, Inc<\/b>. \u201cI applaud the leadership of Senators Carper, Moran, Heitkamp and McCaskill in crafting legislation to achieve that goal and respond to the concerns of leaders in the House of Representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0Association of Magazine Media<\/b>\u00a0commends Senators Carper, Moran, Heitkamp, and McCaskill for their leadership,\u201d said\u00a0Linda Thomas Brooks, president and CEO.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cThe introduction of this bill is an important first step toward securing the future of the American postal system and the many industries that rely on it to do business \u2013 including our own.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe very broad business mailing community represented by the\u00a0Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service\u00a0<\/b>endorses the Postal Reform Act of 2018 and appreciates the hard work by the bipartisan sponsors to get to this point.\u00a0The extreme financial challenges overhanging the Postal Service have been evident and building for a number of years, with a day of real reckoning coming later this year.\u00a0The industry and other stakeholders have sought help only Congress can give throughout this time to no avail.\u00a0Now is the time for Congress to act before it must bail out the system with taxpayer dollars or radically shrink it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United Postmasters and Managers of America (UPMA) applauds the efforts of Senators Carper, Moran, Heitkamp and McCaskill in introducing bipartisan legislation to further the goal of providing financial relief to the U.S Postal Service, helping safeguard a universal postal system, and encouraging innovation,\u201d\u00a0<\/b>said\u00a0UPMA co-presidents Tony Leonardi and Sean Acord. \u201c<\/b>UPMA looks forward to continue working with these Senators and other members of Congress to sustain the U.S. Postal Service, a proven national treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNNA supports the hard work these bill sponsors have done to ensure a reliable and affordable mail service,\u201d said\u00a0Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (SC) News, and president of the National Newspaper Association.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cCongress has lingered far too long over the needed corrections in postal policy, and as a result the continuation of this service is ever more seriously at risk. Our elected officials know the Postal Service must have a better set of laws for its operation, and they ignore this need at the peril of all of us who rely upon the mail. We strongly urge the Senate to take up this bill and give this proposal, which has bipartisan support, an opportunity to pass this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the last several sessions of Congress, Senator Carper, Senator Heitkamp, Senator Moran, and Senator McCaskill have held numerous briefings, roundtables, and meetings with members on both sides of the aisle and postal stakeholders to assess the hurdles facing the Postal Service, identify the tools the Postal Service needs to innovate and thrive in the 21st century, and find a way forward on postal reform.<\/p>\n
Specifically, the bill:<\/p>\n
Increases Sustainability<\/b><\/p>\n
The Postal Service Reform Act eliminates the existing statutory payment schedule, cancels any outstanding payments, and amortizes payments over 40 years.\u00a0 The bill would also create a new Postal Service Health Benefits Program (PSHBP) within FEHBP, implemented and administered by OPM, for all postal employees and annuitants and require all Medicare-eligible postal annuitants and employees enrolled in the PSHBP to also enroll in Medicare, including parts A, B and D<\/strong>. This is essential for protecting the American taxpayer from a future bailout and for protecting the employees\u2019 benefits in retirement.<\/p>\n Improves and Stabilizes Postal Service and Operations<\/b><\/p>\n The price of postage is decreased pursuant to federal court orders last Congress, eliminating the positive revenue stream from the exigent rate case in 2014.\u00a0 As the result of a compromise among the postal community, the bill restores the half of the temporary rate increase while freezing any further rate increases until a new rate system can be finalized by the Postal Regulatory Commission.<\/p>\n Prioritizes the Postal Customer with Service Improvements & Protections<\/b><\/p>\n The bill includes strong service reforms that put the postal customer first by improving mail service performance across the country\u2014especially in rural America\u2014while also requiring transparency and enforcement to ensure the Postal Service\u2019s accountability.\u00a0 Service performance would also be stabilized by preserving current service standards for at least 2-years.<\/p>\n Innovates and Modernizes Existing Postal Business Model and Increases Transparency<\/b><\/p>\n The bill also allows the Postal Service to introduce new non-postal products and services, ship beer, wine and distilled spirits, and partner with state and local governments in offering government services.<\/p>\n The Postal Service Reform Act also increases transparency of Postal Service delivery results and would require that all\u00a0delivery and retail performance results are posted in a transparent and user-friendly way.<\/p>\n WASHINGTON \u2013 3\/22\/18 – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced The Postal Service Reform Act of 2018:\u00a0Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency to stabilize, preserve and improve the Postal Service \u2013 an essential part of our nation\u2019s infrastructure and economy. The financial condition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22946"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22949,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22946\/revisions\/22949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Postal-service-reform-act-2018.jpg\")
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