H.R. 756: Postal Service Reform Act of 2017

This position statement was submitted by United Postmasters and Managers of America on Mar 24, 2018.

Protecting and Enhancing Our National Postal System

The U.S Postal Service is the only entity – public or private – required to prefund its retiree health benefits. (Congress appropriates military retiree health benefits.) Over the past decade, this unique postal obligation has dramatically impaired the operations and finances of the U.S. Postal Service, the security and morale of its employees, and services provided to millions of Americans who rely on a first-class postal system. The agency and its employees emerged from the recent recession seriously wounded by the prefunding obligation. Absent the annual multi-billion-dollar burden, the Postal Service would have realized operating surpluses. (The payment for FY’18 year was $6.7 billion.) In a large part, the operating surplus is attributable to workforce reductions and service changes that, regrettably, impacted service to the American public. The lack of measurable fiscal breathing space impairs the Postal Service’s ability to modernize operations, invest in capital, energize its workforce, and innovate.

For these reasons, UPMA supports H.R. 756, the bipartisan Postal Reform Act. UPMA believes such legislation bills would help to:

Lessen the harmful impact the retiree prefunding requirement has on postal solvency and operations

Encourage postal product and service innovation

Promote postal pricing that more accurately reflects the true costs of mail acceptance, processing and delivery.

Enhance a universal, accessible and affordable governmental postal system.

In addition to the core elements of the bill, UPMA strongly supports provisions to assist Postmasters and managers of retail postal facilities make critical improvements and safeguards to postal operations. The measure helps to stabilize a nationwide postal network, and sustain rural mail service.

H.R. 756 includes the following key provisions:

Facilitates equitable calculation of the Postal Service’s retiree health and pension liabilities by using postal-specific demographic data

Offer relief from the debilitating retiree health liability by coordinating postal retiree Medicare benefits with the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and by creating a postal-only component within the FEHBP

Enhance opportunities for revenue growth by enabling the Postal Service to offer innovative products

Provide the Postal Service with needed rate stability and flexibility by reinstituting one-half of the exigent rate adjustment that lapsed in 2016

Safeguarding quality mail service by implementing a temporary pause on further post office hour reductions or reclassifications of post offices that serve small and rural communities, pending a study by the Postal Inspector general

Provides MSPB appeal rights for certain EAS level employees

UPMA supports H.R. 756.