Congress to weigh reforms to U.S. Postal Service over finance woes

Quad/Graphics

24/02/2021 11:00

By David Shepardson
    WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - A panel of the U.S. House of
Representatives will hear testimony on Wednesday from Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy and other officials as lawmakers consider
significant reforms to tackle the precarious finances of the
U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
    Delays in paychecks and other mail deliveries by USPS gained
attention this summer as a record number of voters mailed in
ballots to elect a new president. 
    DeJoy, a supporter of former President Donald Trump
appointed to head the USPS last year, suspended operational
changes in August after enormous criticism over postal delays.
He plans to release a new 10-year strategic plan soon.
    House Oversight and Government Reform chairwoman Carolyn
Maloney will make the case for action on the finances of the
USPS in the face of shrinking volumes of first-class mail,
increased costs of employee compensation and benefit, and higher
unfunded liabilities and debt.
    "We need to pass meaningful reforms — and hopefully
bipartisan reforms — to put the Postal Service on more
sustainable financial footing for years to come," Maloney will
say, according to excerpts from her office.
    USPS reported net losses of $86.7 billion from 2007 through
2020. One reason is 2006 legislation that it pre-fund more than
$120 billion in retiree health care and pension liabilities, a
reqiurement labor unions have called an unfair burden not shared
by other businesses.
    Maloney has circulated draft legislation on some USPS
financial issues, such as eliminating a requirement to pre-fund
retiree health benefits.
    It would also require postal employees to enroll in
government-retiree health plan Medicare, for a saving of roughly
$10 billion over ten years.
    Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers
Union, will urge Congress to include an additional $15 billion
"to help stabilize the Postal Service during this crisis" in a
COVID-19 relief package.
    His testimony, seen by Reuters, calls for another USPS
"modernization grant" of $25 billion to make "long overdue"
investments in a clean postal fleet, modernising postal
facilities and providing electric vehicle charging stations for
local post offices.
    Also testifying is Joel Quadracci, chief executive of
printing company  QUAD.N  Quad/Graphics.   
    DeJoy will testify alongside Ron Bloom, a former Obama
administration official elected this month as the new chairman
of the U.S. Postal Board of Governors.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KF2AZ
    In December, Congress converted into a grant a $10 billion
U.S. Treasury loan that lawmakers gave to USPS in March. 

 (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))