TOPICS
TOPICS
White House adamantly opposed to Senate postal bill
Senate supporters of postal overhaul legislation contend they have changed their bill to accommodate White House concerns, but administration officials say they are not budging from their opposition because several benefit provisions are still too expensive.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., are sponsors of the Senate version and have been aiming to pass a bill to fend off a looming rate hike.
But at a hearing Thursday, the administration continued to oppose a Postal Service proposal to transfer to the Treasury Department the costs of retirement benefits related to military service. The administration also wants money slated for the agency's escrow account for pension overpayments to be spent only to pay for retiree health benefits, testified Timothy Bitsberger, assistant Treasury secretary for financial markets.
Collins reminded him that she and Carper have revised the bill since it was approved unanimously by the committee last year to incorporate several White House's suggestions on financial transparency and rate setting. "The administration needs to come up with potential compromises on the issues on which we disagree," she said.
Dan Blair, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, said in an interview after the hearing that the White House "remains adamant" on its positions on the two sticking points.
During his testimony, Bitsberger said the Postal Service has obscured "the real reason" for the proposed rate hike. "The reality is that any additional financial requirements of the Postal Service can be directly attributed to its inability to sufficiently reduce its costs," Bitsberger said. He noted USPS covers a higher percentage of its employees' health benefits than most government agencies.
Blair said a law passed in 2003 changing the funding formula for employee pensions freed $78 billion in future liabilities, so the agency easily can afford to cover the cost of its military retiree benefits, about $27 billion. But Collins disputed that accounting.
During the hearing, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who championed the 2003 law, said it was never intended to shift payment for military pensions back to the Postal Service. Stevens, who recently signed on as a co-sponsor of the postal bill, said he might, "ask to meet with the president" personally to discuss the issue, since the administration's proposal might be a significant disincentive for the postal service to hire veterans.
COMMENTS
- This is for "Let me see if I understand the issue" writer. You have it right except for the statement where you think the number of military retirees is huge. Let me remind you in a nice way that military retirees worked for less than a chinaman's wage many years of their life. Don't you believe that people who serve their country and protect your rights to enjoy the freedom to good jobs, should also be entitled to a decent job? I think your real problem is that you are jealous, even though you probably never served a day in the military service and you are probably a postal worker. Sorry bud, pay the bill. I hear it is real nice when that check comes each month. Charlie Posted June 8, 2005 12:17 PM
- Let me see if I understand the issue. The Post Office is being asked to pick up the entire retirement tab for Veterans who retire from military service and get a job with the Post Office. I know for a fact this is a huge number of people. As a customer of the Post Office, I'm being asked to pay for the entire retirement package of a postal worker who joins the Post Office from a long career with the military. Seems like a great deal for the Pentagon and a really poor deal for USPS. Here I'm a bit fuzzy-- USPS is in the process of competing with private companies who don't have to pick up this tab and from the internet where mail is free. USPS was spun off years ago to be quasi-independent in order to compete. And now the administration is saddling it with unreasonable demands to let its customer base pay for workers' military service. All I can say is wow. Goodbye Post Office-- it's been nice but I guess now I have to get used to paying my bills electronically. GovExec.com reader Posted April 18, 2005 1:41 PM
- Here we have another politician (Stevens) using the hiring of veterans as way to force Bush to come around to his way of thinking. I got news for him. The postal service doesn't need any incentive to avoid hiring veterans if they can get away with it. They have been shafting veterans for years in the hiring process. How dare STEVENS (who should have been protecting veterans in the employment process) now try to use that as a means to force BUSH to come around to his way of thinking on the postal reform bill. STEVENS was also one who many years ago made the statement that "most disabled veterans received their disabilities from falling off of bar stools". Charlie Posted April 17, 2005 6:10 PM
