The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has postponed its scheduled markup this Wednesday of S. 1486, the Postal Reform Act of 2103. The issue which seems a the center of the delay decision is the controversial section 301 which significantly changes the governance and rate setting process for the Postal Service. Under section 301, the USPS woudl have had considerable power to raise rates with minimal oversight by the Postal Regulatory Commission. Another section of the bill (206) would have also extended the power to make service changes with minimal PRC oversight. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) told the bill's two chhief sponsors Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) that she would introduce an amendment to strike section 301. That amendment had gained the support of several of her colleagues including Senators Landrieu (D-LA), Pryor (D-AK, Mike Enzi (R-WY) and others.
The postponement of the markup is a testament to an extraordinary grassroots effort on the part of the mailing industry. Wisconsin is the home to significant printing and paper operations which appealed to Senator Baldwin for help. A group of mailing industry executives met with Senator Carper to express disappointment with the bill overall but specifically with section 301. That meeting was arranged by Senator Baldwin who attended by conference call.
At this point, we do not know when the markup will be rescheduled; however, it appears likely that significant changes will have to be made in the rates and governance portions of the bill for it to be approved by the committee.