Conservatives still waiting for response to concerns on postal overhaul

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, are still waiting for a response from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, on a letter they sent three weeks ago that lambasted postal overhaul legislation sponsored by House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., for worsening the deficit.

The letter, which urged leaders to delay a floor vote until those issues are resolved, echoed two of the administration's top concerns with the measure: shifting payment for the agency's military pensions to the Treasury and giving the Postal Service access to money slated for an escrow account.

A spokeswoman for Hastert said she was not sure when the bill would be slated for floor action, but leaders have indicated to the bill's sponsors that it could be this month or next.

A spokesman for Davis, who has stood firm on both issues through months of negotiating with the White House, said the postal bill "is a Republican bill, and represents our best chance at solving the structural, legal and financial constraints that have combined to bring the Postal Service to the brink of catastrophe. What we're trying to prevent is a government bailout of the Postal Service."

In their letter, Pence and Hensarling wrote that CBO estimated the measure will cost at least $5.9 billion over the next five years and might call for an additional $1.6 billion in funds -- money which they noted is not provided for in the budget resolution.

"Taxpayers have paid their fair share, and any needed reforms to the system ought to be enacted in either a deficit-neutral manner or one where costs are borne by those who currently utilize USPS' services," Pence and Henserling wrote.

They said the legislation does not do enough to cut down on the agency's expenses.

Although they acknowledged that "taxpayers typically pick up the costs" of military pensions for federal agencies, they argued that "USPS is supposed to operate as a self-financed government corporation" and having the Treasury cover pension costs would "amount to taxpayer subsidy" of the Postal Service.

But a spokesman for Davis noted that if those provisions are not kept in the bill, the Postal Service will have to raise its rates.

"Failing to pass the legislation essentially imposes a 5.4 percent tax on every transaction with the Postal Service," he said. "Letting this tax go into effect would be fiscally irresponsible."