The House Government Affairs Committee decisively defeated the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, effectively scuttling the prospect of legislative reform of the U.S. Postal Service for at least the next two years.
The bill (HR 4970), developed by Reps. John McHugh (R-NY), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Danny Davis (D-IL), was defeated in committee by a vote of 20 to six, according to a committee staffer.
“It’s dead, gone, kiss it goodbye, ” said Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce. “The only thing that can save it now would be a presidential commission because the Bush administration won’t want to be caught holding the bag for the Postal Service’s unfunded liabilities like retirement costs.”
He also chastised the USPS for believing that mail volume will rebound by at least 5% when the economy improves. “That’s just not going to happen,” he said.
Neal Denton, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers said: “What took a lot of us by surprise was the huge amount of support that United Parcel Service had in defeating this bill.”
UPS reportedly lobbied heavily for this bill’s defeat.
Last week the Direct Marketing Association accused UPS of marshalling its “well-financed lobbying muscle to deny the bill a House floor vote.”
“UPS’s reported efforts to thwart postal reform raise grave concerns about the future of postal reform and the apparent lack of representation given to the 9 million Americans who count on an effective postal service for their jobs,” said DMA president H. Robert Wientzen, in a statement.
Denton said he had hoped this bill would serve as a model for future bills, especially since the USPS Board of Governors actually endorsed this bill that gives the Postal Rate Commission more power.
Like Del Polito, Denton said the matter may have to be taken up by a presidential commission.
Denton also strongly cautioned that any postal reform bill would have to accommodate the interests of UPS. “If it doesn’t, the vitality of the national delivery system could be jeopardized,” he said.
Bob McLean, executive director of the Mailers Council, was even more pessimistic.
“Dan Burton has to retire after six years as Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and the new Chairman probably won’t be in any hurry to take on anything as complex as postal reform,” he said.
McLean said he hoped a presidential commission could be convened later this year that could take maybe nine months to come out with a report that could lead to some sort of postal reform action late in 2003 or early in 2004.
USPS officials were unavailable for comment at deadline.
The defeated bill called for giving the USPS some flexibility in pricing its products and services. It would also cap certain rates, establish revenue targets tied to the Consumer Price Index and develop cost saving incentives for the postal service. The service expects to end the current fiscal year more than $1 billion in the red.
The measure would also allow the USPS to establish the rates for products and services that compete with private business. And it would permit the USPS to offer new and experimental services on a limited basis without seeking the backing of the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) renamed the Postal Regulatory Commission.
At the same time it would give a renamed PRC additional authority over certain aspects of the postal service’s operations (DIRECT Newsline, June 12).
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