GovernmentExecutive.com

The White House might compromise on postal overhaul legislation in time to avoid a looming double-digit rate increase, sources say.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., the chief proponents of last year's bill, are leaning toward backing administration requests intended to provide financial transparency, according to Senate aides.

In exchange, they said, the White House might allow more flexibility in allowing the Postal Service to tap a retirement escrow account that the Postal Service contends is overfunded. The White House has opposed that approach, as well as the way the bill shifts the cost of military pensions to the Treasury Department.

The negotiations over the legislation come as the board of the Postal Service took the first step Thursday toward seeking a rate increase -- a process that can take close to a year.

Administration opposition kept postal overhaul bills from reaching the floor of either chamber last year despite both committees approving them unanimously. The White House has been meeting regularly with majority and minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee, aides said. Although most participants expect the Senate bill to be closer to the final version, the House likely will need to adopt some administration proposals to win the support of the chamber's leaders, a lobbyist for the mailing industry said.

"Asking members of the House to vote for a bill that the White House doesn't like, the leadership doesn't like, the mailing industry doesn't like, in the hopes that it can be worked out in conference, that's a roll of the dice," said Ben Cooper, who tracks legislation for the Printing Industries of America.

At the White House's behest, the Senate measure -- expected to be introduced next month -- likely will limit or strike provisions giving the Postal Service leeway for banking and investment practices, Senate aides said.

It also might include language requiring the agency to file SEC-like reports to a regulatory board. In addition to the escrow negotiations, the Senate measure might give the Postal Service greater flexibility in negotiating work-sharing agreements, which allow the agency to offer discounts to large mailers for presorting mail and other tasks normally done by postal workers.

Collins championed a broader work-sharing provision last year. But committee Democrats, joined by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. opposed it. Specter is no longer on the Governmental Affairs panel; proponents say the new work-sharing language probably will be a compromise between Carper and Collins.

It is not clear whether the White House will be willing to make similar concessions on military pensions. The White House would like the agency to assume responsibility for the benefits of its military retirees. Although nearly all stakeholders -- including the Postal Service, unions and the mailing industry -- oppose the idea, the White House has stood firm, lobbyists say.

"I don't know of anyone that likes it, other than the people in the administration," Cooper said. "That doesn't mean that some people aren't ready to throw up their hands."

COMMENTS

• I think some of your readers need to wake up. If they want to make such negative comments, at least they should educate themselves on some of the issues. A) We have not taken any money from the government in the form of subsidies since the early 1980's. We are self reliant. B) Not only does the postal service deliver to every address in the nation, every day, it's still the cheapest. C)It adds 1.8 million addresses every year, which equates to higher operating expenses. D)The big boys in government want us to operate like a business, but leave us with laws that were created over 30 years ago to operate by. (Yes, we operate under LAWS not policies or business models) E)It takes almost one year to get an increase in rates to cover expenses.(Expenses they gladly throw our way which are unrelated to what we do) If they left us to operate like a real business, we would benefit the public and not go through this every three years. This is only the tip of the iceburg. Go ahead and attempt privatization. What company will deliver your mail to your house every day? No one. You will have to go to a central location to pick it up yourselves, or pay a premium for it. Try mailing anything with these companies, and you'll be paying by zones. (You know; like sending anything via UPS or FEDEX)If you want things to run better, get on the big boys in the congress and senate to get off their collective rears and get things moving. Once it's gone, you'll never get it back. THomas M Severino Posted June 15, 2005 7:01 AM
• "taxpayer, DOD" needs to get real. If he thinks privatized mail will be cheaper, he needs to check into a few things. 1. If the Postal Service has to subsidize first class mail with junk mail to keep their costs low, so will a private company. 2. You can have your name put on a "no mail" list that will eliminate most, if not all, of your junk mail. This isn't something new, it's been in existance for decades. 3. Start using FedEx for all your first class mail. It'll get there in about the same rate of time and will only cost $11+/pound vs $0.37/ounce. GovExec.com reader Posted February 23, 2005 2:31 PM
• If VP's comments are accurate I think we should outsource the functions to India - seems that it would be cheaper to fly the mail there for sorting and then fly it back because the 54K sorter probably only costs 15K in India and the flight doesn't cost 40K if we use India air! It probably is cheaper, faster and better to fly it to Mexico or Canada where it will happen cheaper. I think we should get rid of the post office and privatize mail delivery. That way we would stop first class mail from subsidizing junk mail and I would not waste my time throwing away 90% of the junk I receive and filling the landfill with waste paper from junk mail that first class mail is paying for! taxpayer Posted February 23, 2005 6:53 AM