Biden signs USPS reform legislation into law as agency seeks higher mail prices - Federal News Network
A long-awaited reform bill expected to save the Postal Service a total of $107 billion is now law.
President Joe Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act into law Wednesday. The House and Senate passed the bill with strong bipartisan support last month.
The legislation will eliminate a 2006 mandate from Congress to pre-fund retiree health benefits, a requirement that Biden said “stretched the Postal Service’s finances almost to the breaking point, with real consequences.”
“With this bill, we’re repealing the pre-funding mandate and setting the Postal Service on a more sustainable and stable financial footing,” Biden said at Wednesday’s signing ceremony.
The bill will save USPS $50 billion over the next 10 years by eliminating a provision from the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that required USPS to pre-fund retiree health benefits well into the future.
The legislation also forgives USPS’s obligation to pay $57 billion in scheduled payments to its retiree health benefits fund.
The bill also requires all future postal retirees to enroll in Medicare parts B and D. Biden said the legislation will generally “streamline health care for postal workers.”
“They deliver for us through rain and snow and sleet, and we’re making sure that health care they need will be there for them as well,” he said.
The legislation requires USPS to develop an online public dashboard that will be updated weekly with local and national service performance data.
The legislation also allows USPS to partner with state, local and tribal governments to offer more non-postal services to the public.
“Imagine a trip to the post office where you can pick up your bus pass, or your hunting license or your fishing license,” Biden said.
Biden added there are “more areas where we want to see the Postal Service leading,” including purchasing more electric vehicles as part of its next-generation delivery fleet.
“It needs to do more to modernize and electrify its fleet of vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to save money. We’re going to do that. I’ll continue to fight for these common-sense improvements,” Biden said.
While the Biden administration has pressured USPS to make electric vehicles a top priority, he also outlined the agency’s recent successes.
Biden said USPS “stepped up” to deliver more than 320 million COVID tests to individuals in every state, territory and military base in the world.
“Impressive turnaround for an unprecedented task, and it’s continuing truly heroic service that they provided throughout this pandemic,” Biden said.
In the 2020 general election, 43% of the votes cast were mail-in ballots, and it took on average less than two days for ballots to get from the voters to election officials — faster than the faster delivery time for first-class mail.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that the Postal Service delivers democracy. And it’s no exaggeration to say the Postal Service as essential as it ever was has ever been today,” Biden said.
USPS, meanwhile, is seeking approval from its regulator to once again raise First-Class Mail prices by approximately 6.5% That includes 60 cents for a First-Class stamp. Prices would take effect July 10.
“The price changes reflect a judicious implementation of the Postal Service’s pricing authority provided by the Postal Regulatory,” USPS wrote in a press release.
The bill’s biggest supporters in Congress attended the White House signing ceremony. Those include Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Rob Portman, as well as Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
The ceremony also included House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), National Security Subcommittee Chairman Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), a committee member and former USPS employee.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). And House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) also attended the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Biden’s latest two picks to serve on the USPS Board of Governors are moving on to a Senate floor vote. HSGAC advanced the nominations of Dan Tangherlini, former head of the General Services Administration on Wednesday.
source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2022/04/biden-signs-usps-reform-legislation-into-law-as-agency-seeks-higher-mail-prices/
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