Alliance Report –August 31, 2015

No one is more dedicated to trying to pass postal reform legislation than Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Senator Carper’s staff has been working diligently with stakeholders representing customers, the mailing industry, employees, the Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Office of the Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, and the staff of other interested committee members including Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH).

Senator Carper hopes to introduce the new bill in September. It likely will include many of the same elements of the Carper-Coburn bill that was passed by the full committee last year, with some adjustments and some changes. The bill also likely will include elements that rural senators have been asking for and introducing in other, more limited, bills to ensure that rural mail delivery service is enhanced.

The Alliance hopes to be able to support a bill that is in the best interests of both the Postal Service and its customers for the long-term sustainability of our postal system. And of course we believe a lynchpin must be to keep postage costs reasonable, predictable and affordable in order to retain and grow the USPS customer base. The Postal Service needs to fill America’s mailboxes with attractive pricing just like airlines fill airplanes.