AAP on the Hill / Issues: Postal Issues

June 21, 2002

Postal Reform Unlikely This Session of Congress

Much-awaited postal reform legislation imploded when taken up by a House committee on June 20th. Long-time postal reform advocate Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) introduced the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act” (H.R. 4970) on the same day the markup for the bill was held. Despite cosponsorship from Committee Chair Dan Burton (R-IND), the bill was rejected by the committee on a 20 –5 vote, with the bill’s lead Democratic backer, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), withdrawing his support in apparent protest of the Republican House leadership’s unwillingness to promise that the bill would be considered by the full House. Although complicated and watered-down through negotiations among the cosponsors, the bill was generally supported by AAP and others in the mailing community as a much-needed first step toward addressing the current postal crises. United Parcel Service (UPS) and the Teamsters led the opposition to the bill. On the Senate side, in the absence of any pending reform legislation similar to the House bill, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the “United States Postal Service Commission Act of 2002” (S. 2754) on July 18th. The bill would create an eleven-member “Presidential Commission on the United States Postal Service” to be appointed by the President and charged with conducting a fifteen-month study to determine how the USPS should be restructured to ensure its future in the 21st century. The Commission will examine whether the postal service should be restructured as a private entity, Government Agency, or commercial Government entity, and examine the regulatory and governance structure between USPS, the Postal Rate Commission and the Board of Governors. The study will also look at USPS’s efficiency, cost-cutting measures, technology implementation, and security issues. At the end of the fifteen-month period, the Commission will submit a report to the President, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee, outlining its findings and recommendations for legislation and administrative action. S.2754 has been referred to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, but no further action has been taken.

For more information contact:

Allan Adler
Ph: 202-220-4544
Email: adler@publishers.org