USPS - Another Crisis

amd

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How Congress Manufactured a Postal Crisis

In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.

If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from the USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits in each of the last six years. This extraordinary mandate created a financial “crisis that has been used to justify harmful service cuts and even calls for postal privatization. Additional cuts in service and privatization would be devastating for millions of postal workers and customers.
 
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amd

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Lets hope it is enough.

USPS reform bill offering ‘much-needed reset’ on its finances passes Senate - March 8, 2022

The Senate on Tuesday passed the Postal Service Reform Act, which would, among other things, eliminate a 2006 mandate from Congress to pre-fund retiree health benefits.

“I thank the Senate and our committee leadership that broke the 10-year logjam which has long constrained the finances of the Postal Service,” DeJoy said.

The bill stands out as the first major piece of postal reform legislation to make it through Congress in more than 15 years, and addresses issues that stem from the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the last reform effort lawmakers passed in 2006.
The bill now heads to the White House, and Biden, who supports the legislation, is expected to sign it.

The bill will save USPS $50 billion over the next 10 years by eliminating a provision from the 2006 law that required USPS to pre-fund retiree health benefits well into the future.

USPS, under the legislation, will instead return to an annual pay-as-you-go system to fund retiree health benefits.

Peters, however, said the final version of the bill reflects compromises from all sides, and only includes USPS reforms that have been “overdue for over a decade.”

“This bill is limited to absolutely essential consensus, bipartisan reforms that are necessary to ensure that the Postal Service can survive and can continue delivering for the American people. Everything in this bill has bipartisan agreement,” Peters said.

The bill would also allow USPS to branch out into offering non-postal services on behalf of state, local or tribal governments.

Dimondstein said that would allow USPS to help issue state hunting or fishing licenses or even offer some services on behalf of state departments of motor vehicles.

The legislation, however, doesn’t change the Postal Service’s financial condition overnight.


Biden signs US Postal Service reform bill into law - April 6, 2022
 

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