The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill that would allow the U.S. Postal System (USPS) to revert back to its original funding apparatus.
The USPS Fairness Act fully repeals the USPS prefunding mandate, reverting back to a pay-as-you-go system so that the Postal Service can focus on investing to meet its mission of serving U.S. households and business, said backers of the bill.
The bill received priority consideration on the House floor by having more than 290 bipartisan cosponsors, a new House rule the Problem Solvers Caucus led the fight for earlier this Congress.
Gottheimer Proud
“I’m incredibly proud that meaningful changes to the House rules — brought about through the hard work of the Problem Solvers Caucus — is helping ensure that bipartisan legislation receives priority consideration on the House floor,” said Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chair Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). “Today’s passage of United States Postal Service Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill with more than 290 co-sponsors, will allow the Postal Service to better focus on investing in the essential services postal workers provide for customers every day.”
Gottheimer’s Problem Solvers Caucus co chair Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), characterized the government funding mandate as “unfair.”
“We hope by resolving this issue the USPS will be able to focus on improving their services for people without the worry of this long term financial burden hurting their bottom line,” said Rep. Reed.
Devoting Resources
Bill sponsor Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) looks forward to USPS devoting resources to critical services its employees deliver.
“USPS is the only entity which is mandated to prefund its retirees’ health benefits,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick. “This law has put the Postal Service in a horrible financial position which has prevented USPS from investing in services to benefit our community.”
