HR 756 continues to make progress. The OGR Committee (House Oversight and Government Reform Committee) has scheduled the mark-up of the bill for this coming Thursday (3/16). No significant changes are anticipated and at this point we anticipate a strong, bi-partison support for the bill when it comes up for a vote. This strong support will be required as we expect continued resistance from Ways & Means given their concern about the bill's impact on Medicare expenses.
While the continued progress so early in this Congress is encouraging, we still have a long way to go. I will keep the updates coming.
Of course, a large part of the reason why HR 756's passage is important to us is the relationship it has to the current "rate review" process being carried out by the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission). This rate review process will determine whether we maintain the current rate making process (annual rate increases tied to CPI) or move to some other form of rate making that could take us back to the days of "cost coverage". As a reminder, the Postal Service's balance sheet is in terrible shape -
- The USPS currently has a total of $121 billion in unfunded liabilities.
- Total liabilities exceed total assets by $56 billion.
- The USPS has defaulted on their required retiree health fund pre-funding payments for the past 5 years = $33 billion.
Without cleaning up the balance sheet issues we are concerned that the PRC will set a disproportionate amount of responsibility on the rate payers to fix the USPS' financial woes. HR 756 works to eliminate the balance sheet concerns.
Also, this is why participation in our planned fly-in next week (3/22 - 23) is important. Your voice needs to be heard (and you need to be seen). There is still time to register at
www.npes.org/2017LegislativeConference.aspx. Let me know if you have questions. Thanks!
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Ken Garner
Executive Vice President
Idealliance
Alexandria VA
703-837-1070
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