The Senate’s Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act —
S-662 — would result in on-budget savings of $37.7
billion and off-budget costs of $41.6 billion over the
2006 — 2015 period, for a total net cost of $3.9 billion,
according to a cost estimate from the Congressional
Budget Office.
It said implementing the bill — introduced in March by
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs chairman
Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tom Carper, D-Del. — would
also have discretionary costs of about $1.6 billion
over that same period.
The bill would eliminate a requirement in the Postal
Civil Service Retirement Funding Reform Act of 2003
to place savings from reduced pension contributions
in escrow, which would allow the agency to “increase
spending for capital improvements or other projects,
pay down its outstanding debt, postpone or diminish
future rate increases, or some combination of these
options,” said CBO.
It said other major provisions in the bill include the
transfer from the postal service to the Department of
Treasury the responsibility to pay pension costs
associated with military service, and the replacement
of direct payments the postal service makes for
retiree health care costs with payments designed to
pre-fund some health care costs for current employees
upon retirement.
The legislation would also modify the USPS board of
governors as well as the postal rate commission,
renaming it the postal regulatory commission.
The House version of the bill could come to a floor
vote this week.
