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Postal Service Reform Act of 2022

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Postal Service Reform Act of 2022
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to provide stability to and enhance the services of the United States Postal Service, and for other purposes.
Enacted bythe 117th United States Congress
Number of co-sponsors102
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 117–108 (text) (PDF)
Legislative history

The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 is a federal statute intended to address "the finances and operations of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)",[1] specifically to lift budget requirements imposed on the Service by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act[2] and require it to continue six day a week delivery of mail.[3]

President Joe Biden signs the Postal Service Reform Act in the State Dining Room of the White House on April 6, 2022

The act was first introduced on May 11, 2021, by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).[1] The House of Representatives then passed the bill by 342–92 on February 8, 2022.[4] On March 8, 2022, the Senate voted 79–19 to pass the bill.[5] President Biden signed the bill into law on April 6, 2022.[6]

Background

Similar bills to the Postal Service Reform Act have been proposed in recent years, but none passed.[7] The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), passed in 2006, required the USPS to pre-fund benefits for future retirees, and this cost the agency about $5.5 billion annually.[8] The PAEA required the USPS to pre-fund these pensions more than fifty years in advance. This requirement caused the USPS to accumulate billions in debt annually in recent years.[9] The USPS Fairness Act would have allowed the USPS to still continue to pay benefits from the accumulated funding (about $56.8 billion in 2020) until depleted, but the intended purpose of the USPS Fairness Act was to remove the pre-funding requirements placed on the agency by the PAEA.[7][9] That bill passed in the House (309—106) in 2019[10] but died in the Senate. The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 finally eliminated the requirement to pre-fund retiree benefits. Retiring postal employees will now be required to enroll in Medicare.[11]

Criticism

Paul Steidler of the Lexington Institute criticized the law for failing to:[12]

  • Reverse the slowdown of mail delivery times
  • Allow the pre-paid pension and medical benefit funds to be partially invested in higher-return stocks rather than the current mandate of 100% U.S. treasury bonds
  • Require the USPS to allocate resources more efficiently by adopting the "greenfield modern bottom-up costing and revenue measurement system" recommended by the USPS Inspector General in 2014.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Maloney, Carolyn B. (2022-02-10). "H.R.3076 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Postal Service Reform Act of 2022". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  2. ^ "USPS Fairness Act Reintroduced in the House and Senate". American Postal Workers Union. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  3. ^ "Postal Service reform bill heads to Senate after strong bipartisan House vote". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  4. ^ Durkee, Alison. "House Passes Postal Service Reform—Here's What It Means For Your Mail". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  5. ^ "Congress passes bill to shore up Postal Service, delivery". MSN. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  6. ^ Durkee, Alison. "Biden Signs Postal Service Reform Bill Into Law—Here's What It Means For Your Mail". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
  7. ^ a b "Congress reintroduces USPS reform bill to eliminate pre-funding mandate". Federal News Network. 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  8. ^ Sanburn, Josh (2013-02-07). "How Healthcare Expenses Cost Us Saturday Postal Delivery". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  9. ^ a b "Lawmakers aim to dissolve 'draconian' law that placed heavy financial burden on Postal Service". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  10. ^ "USPS Fairness Act passes House". National Association of Letter Carriers AFL-CIO. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  11. ^ Lee, Ella (6 April 2022). "USPS gets a financial overhaul: Here's what we know about the Postal Service Reform Act". USA Today. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  12. ^ Jonathan Chang; Meghna Chakrabarti (September 12, 2022). "Solutions and next steps in saving the U.S. postal service". WBUR.
  13. ^ Office of the Inspector General, United States Postal Service (January 7, 2014). "Greenfield Costing Methodology: An Opportunity to Deliver Transformative Change" (PDF).


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