Bipartisan group of lawmakers proposes bill to lift rule putting major financial burden on USPS

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: The Hill

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill to ease a major financial burden on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) by eliminating a requirement that it fund retirement benefits decades ahead of time.

The USPS Fairness Act would do away with a 2006 law that mandated the USPS to form a $72 billion fund to pay for retirement health benefits for over 50 years, a requirement that is not imposed on any other federal agency.

The legislation was introduced in the House by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Colin Allred (D-Texas) and in the Senate by Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

"The unreasonable prefunding mandate has threatened the survival of the USPS and placed at risk vital services for the millions who rely on it. The prefunding mandate policy is based on the absurd notion of paying for the retirement funds of people who do not yet, and may not ever, work for the Postal Service," DeFazio said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-proposes-bill-to-lift-rule-putting-major-financial-burden-on-usps/ar-BB1dkAUx?li=BBnbfcQ

[msongs]

1. well that's good news. look joe manchin its bipartisan ok? nt

[flamin lib]

2. Why can't I rec this more than once? I keep clicking and it just keeps

changing back to rec/unrec. ?????

[SharonClark]

12. You can only Rec once.

[SCantiGOP]

17. Otherwise,

some people would think their posts are so clever, they would soon have 10,000 recs.

[pecosbob]

44. The Ajit Pai method

[PatSeg]

72. I think Flamin Lib was joking

Expressing profound happiness over this bipartisan proposal.

[soldierant]

48. That's why you see people commenting things likw "+ 1000"

It doesn't get counted but ti expresses the wish to.

[PatSeg]

71. I know! This deserves lots of recs!!!

This makes me so happy.

[hay rick]

3. This is a big deal.

[Enterstageleft]

4. And it only took 15 FUCKING YEARS?

[drmeow]

10. Not only that

They never should have imposed it to begin with. It was always about destroying the USPS because it is one of the most democratic institutions ever!

[Rebl2]

13. YEP!

[calimary]

52. Yep. They wanted to piratize - er - "privatize" it

to serve the public less economically and stuff private industry’s pockets.

[drmeow]

62. I think

there is a conscious dollar signs response - Fed Ex, UPS, and DHL already demonstrated that with the package shipping lawsuits decades ago.

However, I do think there is an additional subconscious hatred of the democratic nature of the USPS. In an aristocracy the aristocrats usually have franking privileges (which Congress has for communicating with constituents). I think they also got special mail delivery. I believe that Republicans truly hate equality and the fact that ALL people get the exact same service from the post office drives them up the wall! They just forgot that removing that equality impacts the white rural "higher caste" lesser beings as much or more than it hurts the urban non-white "lowest caste" lesser beings so now they are willing to ease up.

[jaxexpat]

57. That the burden went exclusively onto the USPS was grossly unfair.

I've wondered, however, since it's a pay as you play tool for enforcement of fiscal responsibility toward employees, if it should be imposed on ALL federal organizations. The impact may be surprising. For instance: how would the military industrial complex be effected? The VA? the justice department? the various intelligence authorities? or research organizations? education facilities? Maybe even applied to state and local level governments as well.

One of the causes of economic hardship on the society at large during technological upheaval has been that corporations have used their pension funds to temporarily bail themselves out of bankruptcy. When the inevitable folding of the company did occur their employees were left without promised pension funds for retirement. An action I see as, essentially, contract breaking, a criminal act for which the employees pay the greatest price. This is especially egregious when employee wages were attached for pension input in lieu of social security fund installments. These is, of course, an example of corporate actions in the public realm as opposed to government. But I still wonder what effect on the private corporate world such universal prepaid pensioning by government would have on the nation at large. The attached security of government employment would, I think, tend to draw more-qualified people away from private opportunities and, since nature as well as the marketplace abhors a vacuum, fiscal responsibility may become embraced by the private sector. An end to gig employment, a healthier employee environment, businesses more responsive to employee welfare in an environment wherein loyalty is rewarded instead of abused.

Silly bombastic me. Eden just over the horizon, past a few hairpin, left turns.

[drmeow]

61. Very interesting perspective

I was always enraged at the bankruptcy courts allowing corporations to do that.

I think one of the issues with the requirement for the USPS was the number of years of funding required was excessive.

I don't know how federal pensions are funded and I think that there is already a reputation for better benefits which draws people to federal/state jobs - the exchange is generally lower pay.

Elizabeth Warren may be interested in your idea.

[jaxexpat]

63. That Sen Warren might be interested in my idea would certainly be a boon to my ego.

I don't see that as likely. My points are that it's a good thing to remove rewards for gambling with other peoples money from our collective business plans. Any legislation that encourages business to act responsibly is good for the nation at large. If for no other reason, it makes the nation resilient to engineered financial collapses. We've been trained to expect these "recessions" as part of some inevitable "business cycle" or other manufactured excuse in which corruption is rewarded by financial gain. I believe in reward for work. Rewards for "easy wins" such as lotteries or price gouging, stock manipulation and insider investment, trust fund inheritance and investor class industries are antithetical to a just and sustainable society.

[PatSeg]

73. Yeah

That's why you always have to pay attention to what republicans are doing. Even some Democrats in congress, as well as some postal employees thought it was a good idea at the time. Republicans can be really sneaky.

[Duppers]

33. Under W Bush...

... a puppet of the gop establishment.

[soldierant]

49. Yes, it is ABOUT G D TIME.

So many peo[le were unaware this requirement existed, let alone how crippling it was, and it kept making the USPS look bad.

Even if they have to eave what's there until it amortizes and can just stop paying in for a while, just IMAGINE what they will be able to do.

Especially if they get a sane Postmaster General in (which I suppose will require a sane Board of Governors.)

[denbot]

5. This is what good governance looks like.

It’s going to be a short 4 years..

[Takket]

6. this law was only meant to bankrupt USPS and they still survived anyway.......

the american taxpayer should get back the money we have been bilked in postage fees meant to fund this absurd mandate.

[paleotn]

7. FINALLY!!!

Ram it through, Biden will sign it and USPS is saved. Done.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. Rates Rollback????

I didn't think so. Now that they've got us where they want us, no reason to worry about what customers pay. It's been year after year of rate increases that far outdistance inflation, even in years when fuel prices were declining or already very low.

[EarnestPutz]

24. Please don't hate the USPS. They are a well run and very efficient organization.

They have always had their free market critics who want to take over the business, which is the source of this unfair mandate about funding pensions.

[mdbl]

29. The USPS was a great service

until trump and dejoy F'd it up.

[EarnestPutz]

41. The USPS still managed to do a good job getting ballots both to the voters.....

....and back to the vote counters DESPITE the efforts of Trump and his minions to limit our vote. The Biden administration will do well to right some old wrongs and this is a good start. I like to think this is in some way an acknowledgement of their efforts to preserve the vote, and a reward.

[EarnestPutz]

43. That said, deJoy has got to go. Wonder why he isn't gone already.

[soldierant]

50. Because only the Board of Governors can fire him

That is a whole nother can of worms.

But you are absolutely right. I cannot imagine any other institution, public or private, who could have accomplished what they accomplished if it had had been similarly hobbled.

[BumRushDaShow]

79. There were 3 vacancies on the board before the end of last year

plus one Democrat's position that just expired this past December (so 4 vacancies) and if those are filled with 4 Democrats, then Democrats will control the board 5 (including a current single Democrat already on the board) - 4 and can dispatch him post haste.

[summer_in_TX]

45. The price of stamps was set by the Board of Governors

and it was never adequate to meet the costs of operating under the terribly unfair rule of having to pre-fund the retirement of all their employees for 75 years. They've had to do that since sometime during the W. administration. All reserves have been exhausted and they've been operating in the red for a time. They weren't allowed to raise the price of stamps to meet their actual costs (including pre-funding).

I'm sure they'll be paying off the debt they racked up for awhile. Plus they are still in the position of having less volume of mail because of online transactions and email.

But I'm delighted to hear that the pre-funding requirement is about to go away.

[madaboutharry]

9. This rule was always malevolent in purpose.

It was championed by the “privatize everything” crowd who saw it as a way to wreck another government entity.

[CottonBear]

11. Wow! This is great news! I hope this bipartisan bill becomes law.

Next order of business: Make a plan to dismiss the entire USPS Board of Governors and fire Louis DeJoy.

[Hekate]

21. Exactly. Toss DeJoy out on his ass, and the Board with him. nt

[BComplex]

58. DeJoy should have been gone on DAY ONE of the Biden admin.

I wish Biden had already had new governors in place for the post office for the minute he took office, as well as all the other miracles he has performed.

I gotta say...our new President has accomplished more great things in his first 2 weeks than trump did in his 4 years. I'm sure he'll make sure this never happens to the post office again, if he possibly can.

[tclambert]

14. Amazon Prime and UPS drive around my neighborhood in new trucks, Postal workers drive 20 to 30 year

old trucks.

[SharonClark]

15. USPS trucks in my neighborhood are brand

spanking new.

[Turin_C3PO]

53. Must only be in certain places.

Most places I’ve been the USPS trucks are much older than UPS or Fed X. It’s ridiculous.

[yaesu]

16. its about time, this should have been done the last time we had control of the 3 branches. nt

[Hekate]

22. Never forget, it was people sitting on their butts instead of voting in the midterms that did us in

Right?

[NurseJackie]

18. Horrible ambiguous headline writing.

Bipartisan group of lawmakers proposes bill to lift rule putting major financial burden on USPS ... it sounds like they're lifting a rule that will therefore put a major financial burden on the USPS.

BETTER: "Bipartisan group of lawmakers propose bill that will eliminate major financial burden on USPS"

[TryLogic]

39. My thoughts as well.

[dalton99a]

19. And get rid of DeJoy ASAP.

Replace the USPS Governors

[onetexan]

23. Yup, next action item:remove Dejoy & throw him in Dejail

[mysteryowl]

20. Hey! Moscow Mitch! look at what the senate can do!

MM screwed America for years. I am so glad he is not holding the gavel.

[Johnny2X2X]

25. This is amazing!

Please let it pass. It would be huge.

[iluvtennis]

26. Great news! nt

[PatrickforO]

27. Well...this is my next call to both US Senators and my Representative.

I totally support this new Postal Fairness Act.

[mdbl]

28. Restoring the Post Office to it's previous level of efficiency may take more time and resources

than had it been left alone. It has serious problems right now thanks to idiots trump and dejoy.

[Dem2theMax]

30. Finally!

[SunSeeker]

31. Hallelujah! nt

[ailsagirl]

32. 👍👍👍

[Ilsa]

34. The 2006 law was nefarious: it was an effort to accumulate a mega fund for

a corporate entity who would buy out USPS after the belt-tightening ruined services.

[cntrfthrs]

35. about damned time they did this...

when Heidi Heitkamp got elected to the senate, i sent an email every month requesting she sponsor legislation to repeal that horrendous burden the republicans put on the USPS...she didnt even reply much less sponsor the bill...

[yonder]

36. Great news and about time.

I think most people here know what the intention of the original legislation was.

[Midnight Writer]

37. The Post Office does not get tax money. They pay billions into the Federal Treasury each year.

I like to point this out whenever I get the chance.

[Nitram]

38. Finally the GOP plan to privatize the US mail by driving the USPS into bankruptcy is being taken

seriously.

[mr_lebowski]

47. It's good we're taking it seriously, but it was bi-partisan back then as well ...

There may well have been a nefarious GOP plan, but plenty of Democrats went along with it because they liked the idea of making sure future health benefits for the (union) workers at USPS were going to be fully-funded no matter what.

[Nitram]

64. There must have been a better way too guarantee benefits for USPS workers than bankrupting the

postal service.

[Steelrolled]

65. You are right, and the future of the USPS is not rosy

I send and receive very little first class mail these days (compared to 20 years ago). And 90% of package deliveries are USPS, and now Amazon prime.

The USPS is very efficient at reading, sorting and delivering letters, but less so with packages. If only they were able to better take advantage of the huge rise in package delivery.

[Cha]

40. Excellent!

[TigressDem]

42. FINALLY, some sanity on this subject.

They have been a fully self supporting federal agency of the government for SO LONG and then in 2006 shell shocked by idocracy.

[Cetacea]

46. Great

Long time coming.

[VarryOn]

51. Now, if they could get fairly compensated from their customers...

Especially their business ones (I'm looking at you Amazon!). I love the Sunday package delivery we get now. I just wonder if they priced it correctly. Package delivery service is quite competitive, and other companies are trying to get in.

I just had to look up the price of a stamp. We use so few nowadays, I had no idea what it was. $.55! If there were ever a bargain, a 1st class stamp would be it! One stamp can move a letter thousands of mile. All for $.55! They ought to set it much higher. The service would be worth it.

[Magoo48]

54. Great news.

[liberalla]

55. About friggin time! This would change the whole picture...

and a new Postmaster General would be awesome!

[twodogsbarking]

56. Stamps were a nickel when I was a kid

so were some candy bars. Cigarettes were a quarter. Good times.

[58Sunliner]

59. Finally!!!

[flying_wahini]

60. Ask Susan Collins how she will vote on it. She was a Big part of writing and passing it in 2006.

Would be interesting to see if UPS, Amazon and Fed Ex are in her donors lists.

[ananda]

66. Good!

And get rid of Dejoy.

[question everything]

67. Good idea. Will express my support to my representatives

Good idea. Will express my support to my representative

[Fla Dem]

68. Hurrah! This was a RW plot to put the USPS out of business so it could be privatized.

Glad it is a bipartisan proposal. Better chance of it passing.

[BobTheSubgenius]

69. "unreasonable" is not the word to describe that mandate.

"Outrageous" is much closer to the mark. How could anyone NOT see what a disaster was in the making? Not only is the USPS being forced to fund people who "may not ever" work there, it is funding a good part of the pensions of people that aren't even born yet.

[SpankMe]

70. We sink 3/4-trillion dollars into the military each year

Yet, the post office operates at a (comparatively) measly $10B deficit on average (spends just over $80B per year with revenues in the low-$70B range).

So, the government would have to put in around $10B per year to keep USPS going. (NASA's whole budget is barely over $20B per year.)

I say get rid of the requirement that USPS be self sustaining and fund their deficit out of tax dollars. You know, as if it was some sort of federal government agency that provided a valuable service to the American people.

[bagimin]

74. Stop making sense!

[Blue Owl]

75. K&R

[Joinfortmill]

76. Ben Franklin would approve.

[electric_blue68]

77. I was so mad when they imposed this. Hope this goes through!

[OMGWTF]

78. IIRC the bill also allows USPS to become a bank and to go electric with their vehicles.

YAY!