Congress Returns with Long To-Do List

NAPS Leg/Reg Update – September 9, 2013

Congressional lawmakers return to the nation’s capital today from their summer recess with their foremost attention devoted to whether to attack Syria. But the Syria issue, while it will dominate national attention for at least the next two weeks, is not the only issue Congress faces as it begins the fall session. Unresolved battles over government spending, the federal debt, farm policy, immigration reform, and health care implementation also are part of a crowded fall agenda.

Postal reform is not on that agenda, at least in the House, according to a memo from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to House Republicans last Friday. Republican leaders have shown little enthusiasm in bringing to the floor the postal reform measure crafted by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) that his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier passed on July 24. The measure, the Postal Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 2748), was approved on a 22-17 vote along party lines, with Democrats criticizing the measure for its cuts in postal facilities and services.

Postal Hearings in Senate Set for September 24 and 26

Over in the Senate, postal reform will begin to receive greater attention, with two days of hearings on postal reform now scheduled for later this month. Just before the the summer recess began on August 1, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the new chair of the Senate postal oversight committee, and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), the panel’s ranking member, introduced their bipartisan measure, the Postal Reform Act of 2013, (S. 1486). The upcoming hearings, will take a closer look at the Carper-Coburn bill and the subjects of postal rates, service, and innovation (on Sept. 24) and health, pension, and employee issues (Sept. 26).

Whether a postal reform bill later this fall can move out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee remains a big unknown. Neither Carper nor Coburn fired anything close to a confetti cannon as they introduced their postal overhaul measure last month. Their lukewarm media statement revealed their bill as a work-in-progress. Sen. Coburn said, “This proposal is a rough draft of an agreement subject to change that I hope will move us closer to a solution that will protect taxpayers and ensure the Postal Service can remain economically viable while providing vital services for the American people.” And Sen. Carper acknowledged the bill’s limitations, saying: “This bill isn’t perfect and will certainly change as Dr. Coburn and I hear from colleagues and stakeholders, including postal employees and customers.”

NAPS gave the Carper-Coburn bill a mixed review in its analysis, saying “While we compliment Chairman Carper and Ranking Member Coburn for their bipartisan efforts, we believe the bill should be revised” in a number of respects. The upcoming Senate hearings on the bill will offer a sense of the bill’s prospects and what’s next, including a possible emergency postage rate hike.

Rate Hike Request Remains in Limbo

Last Thursday, the USPS Board of Governors postponed its decision on whether to request a postal-rate increase, which some outside groups have said they fear could reach as high as 10 percent, until the next Board of Governors meeting” scheduled for Sept. 24 and 25.

A statement released by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors confirmed that the panel met and, as part of its agenda in a closed-door meeting, “considered pricing issues, including the possibility of filing for price adjustments.” The Governors, the statement said, “continue to listen to stakeholders and have postponed final pricing decisions until the next scheduled Board of Governors meeting.”

The prospect of a rate hike has alarmed mailers of newspapers and magazines, advertising and other bulk correspondence, prompting the mailing industry to mount a public relations offensive against a rate increase request, arguing that raising prices is premature and would hurt their business and ultimately, the Postal Service. Proponents of a rate hike regard the move as necessary and critical because it could help USPS recoup the multibillion-dollar losses it has suffered in recent years, especially given the failure of Congress to pass legislation to help stem those losses.

Postal-rate increases are capped at inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. That would mean an allowable increase of about 2 percent for implementation in January. The Postal Service, under the 2006 postal law, may seek a higher rate increase beyond the CPI in “exigent” circumstances, when approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, which has 90 days to approve the action. In 2010, the Postal Service submitted a request for an exigent rate increase of 5.6 percent, far above the CPI cap, that would have brought in more than $3 billion annually. But the mailers fought that increase in court and it was derailed.

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Bruce Moyer
Legislative Counsel to NAPS
[email protected]