The contest for chairmanship of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the U.S. Postal Service, is down to two candidates: Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) and Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), according to mail industry watchers.

Chairmen are expected to be chosen early next week by a Republican steering committee.

Both are seen as friendly toward mailers. But the stronger candidate is Davis, who reportedly may be owed some political favors.

As chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, he is widely viewed as being influential for the GOP’s success in the last election, said Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce.

“I think Davis would be very good for the industry,” said Del Polito. “He’s a middle-of-the-road Republican with lots of government workers in his district. He understands the issues and is no right-wing ideologue.”

One issue industry watchers think Davis will be helpful with is expediting passage of legislation that would change how the U.S. Postal Service funds its retirement obligations.

Last fall, the USPS discovered that it had overpaid its liability for retiring postal employees by about $27 billion, apparently freeing up that money and delaying the next rate increase to 2006. But in order for the USPS to use this money for other purposes, a law needs to be passed enabling it to do so.

Others vying for the job include Christopher Cox and Christopher Shays from Connecticut.

Cox was instrumental in getting Congress to pass moratoriums on Internet taxes over the past several years, including the bill to extend the tax moratorium to this November (Direct Newsline, Nov. 29, 2001).

A less likely candidate for the chairmanship is Shays, who is described by at least one industry observer as being too independent-minded regarding the Bush administration’s agenda.

The important House Government Reform Committee oversees all government agencies, including the USPS.

Even the Presidential Commission on the U.S. Postal Service will have to submit its findings next July both to the House panel and the Senate Government Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

“The committees could adopt all the commission’s recommendations or do nothing,” said Neal Denton, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers.

At present, no other postal reform legislation has been introduced in Congress and none seems likely since the naming of the presidential commission seems to have removed the urgency from Congress.

Mailers Council executive director Bob McLean expressed no preference for any prospective committee chairman, but lamented that so many committee members will be brand-new and his organization will have to take a lot of time to familiarize them with postal issues.

“It’s going to be an unusually busy January,” he said.

The contest for chairmanship of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the U.S. Postal Service, is down to two candidates: Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) and Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), according to mail industry watchers.

Chairmen are expected to be chosen early next week by a Republican steering committee.

Both are seen as friendly toward mailers. But the stronger candidate is Davis, who reportedly may be owed some political favors.

As chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, he is widely viewed as being influential for the GOP’s success in the last election, said Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce.

“I think Davis would be very good for the industry,” said Del Polito. “He’s a middle-of-the-road Republican with lots of government workers in his district. He understands the issues and is no right-wing ideologue.”

One issue industry watchers think Davis will be helpful with is expediting passage of legislation that would change how the U.S. Postal Service funds its retirement obligations.

Last fall, the USPS discovered that it had overpaid its liability for retiring postal employees by about $27 billion, apparently freeing up that money and delaying the next rate increase to 2006. But in order for the USPS to use this money for other purposes, a law needs to be passed enabling it to do so.

Others vying for the job include Christopher Cox and Christopher Shays from Connecticut.

Cox was instrumental in getting Congress to pass moratoriums on Internet taxes over the past several years, including the bill to extend the tax moratorium to this November (Direct Newsline, Nov. 29, 2001).

A less likely candidate for the chairmanship is Shays, who is described by at least one industry observer as being too independent-minded regarding the Bush administration’s agenda.

The important House Government Reform Committee oversees all government agencies, including the USPS.

Even the Presidential Commission on the U.S. Postal Service will have to submit its findings next July both to the House panel and the Senate Government Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

“The committees could adopt all the commission’s recommendations or do nothing,” said Neal Denton, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers.

At present, no other postal reform legislation has been introduced in Congress and none seems likely since the naming of the presidential commission seems to have removed the urgency from Congress.

Mailers Council executive director Bob McLean expressed no preference for any prospective committee chairman, but lamented that so many committee members will be brand-new and his organization will have to take a lot of time to familiarize them with postal issues.

“It’s going to be an unusually busy January,” he said.