As we enter the spring and prepare for election season to ramp-up, now is “do or die” time for postal reform in the 113th Congress. As we know from our previous endeavors, if Congress fails to act before the 114th Congress is sworn in this January, the process of postal reform will start over in both Chambers.
That being said, we are beginning to see some movement in the House of Representatives with staff briefing leadership and members on the various provisions and plans in the Postal Reform Act. Of note, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is termed out as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee after this Congress (Republicans limit Chairman to six years in any committee) and has vowed to complete this journey before his term ends. That is easier said than done, but it is adding pressure to bring up the measure in the House.
As we know the House measure has passed Rep. Issa’s committee, but has not yet reached the Floor for amendment, debate, and passage. Voting on postal reform is a tough vote to take during an election year and House leadership will require certain assurances to bring it to the Floor. In the Senate, the bill is in a similar posture having passed the substantive committee in February and is awaiting Floor action.
The substance of the bills is more closely aligned than they were last year, but strong differences still remain. If we can achieve passage from both Chambers, we will still need to work through the conferencing of the two versions. The time left for passage is increasingly narrow, but it remains a possibility and priority.
President Obama’s budget was recently presented to the Congress and contained a measure that would allow the USPS to immediately halt Saturday delivery of packages and first class mail. This measure is sure to alter the debate in Congress as the PMG has repeatedly stated that first class mail is declining but package mail is continuing to rise.
We look forward to seeing you all at the Conference in New Orleans and talking through the measures in the bills as well as discussing our strategy going forward.