WHERE DID WE START? We started this journey for postal reform in 2011 and have exceeded all of the expectations. When we first began we were faced with a Congress comprised of members that had no idea the postal leasing program even existed. With the help and hard work of the board we have changed…
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.
Although comprehensive postal reform has yet to move forward, leaders in the House and Senate chose to include some restrictions on the Postal Service in the recently passed “omnibus” spending bill that will fund the government through September of 2014.
The $1.1T (yes, that’s a T for Trillion!) federal spending bill ended up 1,582 pages long and contained two policy restrictions on the USPS. Page 541 of the bill bars the USPS from discontinuing Saturday delivery as well as restricting the closure of rural post offices.
The AUSPL Board of Directors recently joined AUSPL lobbyists Alan Suskey and David Jolly in Washington, DC, to meet with leaders in the House and Senate on postal reform. It was an “exciting” time in DC to say the least. Our trip happened to coincide with the end of the fiscal year and the government…
We are working with House members of Congress on pending postal legislation that we believe will benefit the leasing program and AUSPL members. The Senate bill will likely see some substantive changes when it is taken up in committee. The Senate bill is expected to focus on labor issues, though rural post office protection will…
AUSPL leaders Morgan Wolaver and Gary Phillips recently joined AUSPL lobbyist Alan Suskey in Washington, D.C., to meet with leaders in the House and Senate on postal reform. They had the opportunity to meet with leaders of both parties and discuss the importance of universal service and the important role that leased postal facilities play…