PMG Megan J. Brennan has called on Congress to enact legislation to help the Postal Service, saying the organization’s financial challenges are “serious but solvable.”
During testimony May 11 before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Brennan said USPS has worked with stakeholders on several provisions that can achieve broad support.
“The proposals we are advancing today are fiscally responsible,” the PMG said. “They enable the Postal Service to invest in the future and to continue to provide affordable, reliable and secure delivery service.”
The proposals include requiring Medicare integration for postal retiree health plans.
“As the second largest contributor to Medicare, our proposal allows the Postal Service and our employees to fully utilize the benefits for which we have already paid,” the PMG said.
USPS also wants Congress to restore the exigent price surcharge that regulators eliminated in April.
Additionally, the Postal Service wants to calculate retirement benefits using postal-specific growth assumptions instead of government-wide assumptions.
These reforms are needed because the Postal Service is operating under an unsustainable business model, the PMG said.
USPS has streamlined operations, grown its package business and improved productivity for six years, but these actions have not been enough to offset continued declines in customers’ use of First-Class Mail.
“Without legislative and regulatory reform, our net losses will continue to grow, regardless of our ongoing efforts to grow revenue and improve operational efficiencies,” the PMG said.
Brennan’s written testimony, available in the online newsroom, has more information.