Bipartisan Senate Quartet Offers New Plan To Save USPS

A bipartisan Senate quartet introduced a plan Wednesday that would refund nearly  $7 billion to the United States Postal Service in order to keep the institution solvent as it struggles to stay afloat. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Dela.) were harmonious in saying that the refund is in no way a bailout for the service.  “This refund from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirement fund is not a bailout,” Lieberman said. “This was, in fact, an overpayment by the postal service and it is entitled to receive that money back.” According to a statement released by the quartet,  Post Master General Patrick Donahoe would be given access to money the postal service has overpaid to the FERS. Donahoe would then use the funding to offer buyouts or retirement incentives in order to reduce the postal service’s workforce by 100,000.  Complimenting the refund is a measure that would prohibit the postal service from eliminating Saturday delivery for at least two years. Following that period, the service would be required to meet a series of conditions in order to scrap weekend deliveries. “What we want to do is to ensure that eliminating Saturday service is truly the last resort, not the first option,” Collins said. The provision to save weekend service contradicts a similar bill passed in the House that would effectively allow the postal service to drop a delivery day. The bill, sponsored by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), has been widely criticized by Democrats as partisan legislation.

Issa Conintues Fight To Save USPS

By Adrianna McGinley

The U.S. Postal Service can and should be saved, said House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Monday.

“If the fix required that we completely eliminate the post office, I’d be standing here telling you why we have to do it, but it’s not necessary,” Issa said.

Issa has introduced legislation he says will save the postal service without cutting workers’ wages or benefits, and would eliminate the potential for privatizing the service.

“The post office should be run like a business and if they’re run like a business they can pay salaries that they determine and benefits they determine,” Issa said. “But, they’ve got to be able to not need a government subsidy.”

The bill proposes forcing retirement on those who are eligible and it would provide incentives for those who are able to find work elsewhere. Issa said he disagrees with proposals mandating the elimination of six-day service, saying that maintaining the service while proving it cost effective would be most beneficial to consumers. He also criticized plans suggesting money be borrowed from the retirement fund.

Issa proposed several solutions to save money for the service, including investing in cluster mailboxes to replace door chutes, saying it would save $5.5 billion in labor costs, and expressed the need for the Post Master General to be given more decision-making power.

“The one thing we can’t give [the Post Master General] is the ability to do nothing,” he said.