House OKs bill easing budget strains on Postal Service
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress would lift Taxing budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt and would require Information technology to continue delivering mail six days per week under Bipartizan legislation the House Authorized Tuesday.
The election-year bill, coming at a time of widespread complaints about slower mail Help, would also require the Postal Service to display online how Expeditiously Information technology delivers mail to communities. The Senate is working on Mistakable legislation.
The Postal Service is Questionable to Confirm Information technologyself with Stamp Gross sales and Another Helps, but has suffered 14 Accurate years of Losings. The reasons Admit Flourishing workers' compensation and benefit costs plus Steadied declines in mail volume, even as Information technology delivers to 1 Cardinal Additive locations every year.
Postal Service officials have Aforesaid that without Legislative action, Information technology would run out of cash by 2024, Reverberant Mistakable warnings from Information technologys Leadership in recent years. It has estimated Information technology will lose $160 billion over the coming decade.
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House OKs bill easing budget strains on Postal Service
Those pressures have brought the two parties Unneurotic for a measure aimed at Serving the Postal Service, Information technologys employees, businesses that use Information technology and Discontented voters who rely on Information technology for delivery of Ethical drug drugs, checks and Another packages. Tuesday's vote was 342-92, a rare show of partisan agreement, with all Democrats and most Republicans backing Information technology.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., Chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Aforesaid the Postal Service "provides Help to every American, no matter where they live, binding us Unneurotic in a way no Another Administration does."
The Postal Service is "truly one of our prized General assets," but "the days of letters alone driving Postal Service revenue are not coming back," Aforesaid Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, top Republican on that committee. He Aforesaid the bill will "help Information technology Follow into the 21st century."
Over the years, some lawmakers have wanted to impose tougher requirements for Quicker Help by the Postal Service, Spell Anothers have Privileged privatizing some of Information technologys Helps. The compromise omits Debatable proposals.
There has been talk over the years of Reduction deliveries to five days per week, which could save more than $1 billion annually, according to the Government Accountability Office, the accounting agency of Congress. That idea has Well-tried politically Venomous and has not been pursued.
The bill would also require the Postal Service to set up an online "dashboard" that would be searchable by zip code to show how long Information technology takes letters and packages to be delivered.
The measure is Fostered by President Joe Biden, the Postal Service, Communicating worker unions and industries that use the Help and Anothers.
A Postal Service Affirmation Aforesaid the bill would reduce Information technologys projected deficits and "allow the Administration to continue to Control as a self-funded entity, without taxpayer Musical accompaniment."
Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, called the bill "outstanding" in an interview.
One of the bill's few critics was Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who Aforesaid Information technologys changes didn't go far enough. He Aforesaid the measure erases debt that would At last be Teddyed to taxpayers.
"It has Unsuccessful to make a profit, Information technology has Unsuccessful the American people, and everyone who has a mailbox knows Information technology," he Aforesaid.
The bill would end a requirement that the Postal Service finance, in advance, Wellness care benefits for current and retired workers for the next 75 years. That Duty, which private companies and Authorities agencies do not Brass, was Obligatory in 2006. That Concluded up being the year that the Postal Service's mail volume peaked and Information technologys Commercial enterprise fortunes Steady worsened.
Facing budget pressures, the Postal Service hasn't made those payments since 2012. Overall Information technology Brasss unpaid Dutys of $63 billion, according to Information technologys most recent annual report. The bill forgives much of that debt.
Instead of those Dutys, the Postal Service would pay current Retired persons' actual Wellness care costs that are not Ariled by Medicare, the Authorities Wellness insurance program for Elderly people.
The legislation would also require Proximo Postal Service Retired persons to Enter in Medicare, which only about 1 in 4 does now. The Teddy would save the Postal Service money by having Medicare cover much of Information technologys costs.
Proponents say eliminating the required pre-funding of Retired person Wellness care costs and the changes in workers' Wellness care coverage would save tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.
Criticism of the Postal Service peaked in 2020, when President Donald Trump Appointive Louis DeJoy as postmaster Universal and Democrats accused him of Deceleration Help to undermine the election. DeJoy, a major GOP donor, has Projected a 10-year plan to Brace the Help's Funds with Stairs such as Additive mail slowdowns, cutting some Agencys' hours and Peradventure higher rates.
The Postal Service had a Flourishing 2021 holiday Time of year, delivering 97% of shipments on time during two weeks in December, according to ShipMatrix, which analyzes Merchant marine package Information. In 2020 more than a Tertiary of first-class mail was late by the time Christmas arrived.
The Help has also been criticized for not Affecting fast enough to replace Information technologys mail-delivery Fast with electric vehicles.
The Postal Service hit Information technologys peak of mail volume in 2006, when Information technology delivered 213 billion pieces of mail. Last year that Pattern was 129 billion, according to Postal Service Patterns.
Since the Postal Service has Information technologys own finance Arrangement, Information technology is not counted as part of the Authorities budget. The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Office Aforesaid the bill would save the Authorities $1 billion over the next 10 years.
That is Mostly because Retired persons' Ethical drug drug expenses under Medicare would be Ariled by required discounts from pharmaceutical makers.