July 16. A bi-partisan group of Representatives led by Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts has proposed House Resolution 993. The Resolution proposes to express “the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.”
Five Republicans [Paul Cook (R-CA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick ((R-PA), Brian Mast (R-FL) Don Young (R-AK)], and four Democrats [Marcia Fudge (D-OH), David Loebsack (D-IA), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Cedric Richmond (D-LA)] have already signed on as co-sponsors.
In a recent report on “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century” by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposes restructuring the USPS to return it to a sustainable business model. The report suggests “possibly preparing it [the USPS] for future conversation from a Government agency into a privately-held corporation.” According to postalnews.com the House Resolution is in response to this report.
The report discusses the current financial woes of the USPS and cites successful privatization of postal delivery in foreign countries as models. However, foreign postal services were generally profitable prior to being privatized. Additionally, to aid in that profitability most international postal services have gone through restructuring including shrinking the number of physical locations and tpersonnel. According to the report, in some cases “foreign governments have had to absorb legacy retirement liabilities in order to prepare a postal operator for sale.
Finally the OMB report discusses five general areas to be examined in the President’s Task Force on the United States Postal System including the Postal Service’s role in the U.S. economy in rural areas and small communities.