Government affairs

Congress should free USPS to fully leverage its networks and lay the groundwork for long-term, sustainable success that serves the evolving needs of its business and residential customers. NALC calls on Congress to focus on a limited set of common-sense solutions that would strengthen the Postal Service and to avoid damaging its capacity to thrive in the 21st century.

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The U.S. Postal Service has its roots in the United States Constitution. For decades, it has entirely supported itself by the sale of stamps and other postal services—not with taxpayer dollars. The costs associated with the health benefits of USPS’ retirees are also covered by these proceeds. In December 2006, a lame-duck Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), a postal reform measure that included a mandate on the Postal Service to “pre-fund” 75 years’ worth of health benefits for future retirees. Hard-wired into the law without regard to economic conditions was an inflexible payment schedule that required USPS to pay about $5.6 billion per year over a 10-year period. The more than $12 billion in pre-funding payments the Postal Service made from 2007 to 2009 have since helped turn USPS’ healthy income statement a deep shade of red.

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With its unmatched infrastructure and reach to every residential and commercial address at least six days a week, there is unique opportunity for USPS to explore new ways of responding to its customers’ continually evolving needs. However, the Postal Service must be freed at least to stay in step with the needs of its customers, if not to move a step or two ahead of them.

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As it has for generations, the U.S. Postal Service provides affordable universal service as directed by the U.S. Constitution. In 1983, Congress first adopted an appropriations rider that required the Postal Service to deliver mail six days a week, a rider that has been included in every appropriations measure since. And for more than three decades, the Postal Service has been trying to find a way to eliminate that requirement.

NALC supports H.Res. 15, which calls on Congress and the Postal Service to take all appropriate steps to continue six-day mail delivery.

Fact Sheet | H.Res. 15 on Congress.gov

Six days a week, nearly 40 million residential and business customers throughout the country receive packages, letters, bills, medications, supplies and more through door delivery, where a letter carrier delivers the item straight to a customer’s door. All of this is part of a unique universal delivery network that is attractive to businesses, evidenced by the fact that the Postal Service is actually operationally profitable.

NALC supports H.Res. 28, calling on Congress to take all appropriate measures to ensure continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.

Fact Sheet | H.Res. 28 on Congress.gov

Before July 1, 2012, the Postal Service’s standard for First-Class Mail was overnight delivery in most metropolitan areas and rural communities. But since then, USPS has repeatedly degraded its service standards and embraced a doomed strategy of cutting its way to prosperity, which is why it is increasing the expected number of days it takes to deliver various types of mail.

Fact Sheet | H.Res. 31 on Congress.gov

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) rule, enacted in 1983, reduces the Social Security benefits of those who receive an annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and who also earned Social Security benefits from other employment. The Government Pension Offset (GPO) rule, enacted in 1977, reduces or eliminates the Social Security spouse or survivor benefits for which a federal retiree may be eligible based on the Social Security record of his or her spouse.

Since at least the 109th Congress, there have been many attempts to fashion legislation to address these unfair rules. On Feb. 21, Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1205), a bill that calls for repealing these provisions.

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The Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act of 2017 (H.R. 1057 and S. 372) proposes to regulate international mail operations and apply private shipper customs rules to the USPS. It would impose huge costs and penalties on USPS that, unlike private shippers, could not be recovered by charging other nations’ postal operators or their customers, and it would threaten a disruption of the free flow of letters, flats and packages across international borders.

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In polling places all over the country, time and again, election results are skewed by malfunctioning equipment, human error, and untrained poll workers. Voting through the mail fixes these problems by relying on something Americans trust: the United States Postal Service. Democracy is at its best when every citizen casts a vote. The National Association of Letter Carriers is convinced that mail-in voting could help ensure that every citizen can participate in our nation’s democratic process. 

Many state legislatures consider passing bills that would create “Do Not Mail” registries to prevent mailers from sending direct mail to those who sign up, just as "Do Not Call" registries prevent homes from receiving calls from telemarketers. However, a "Do Not Mail" registry would be an extremely negative development for letter carriers, mailers and postal patrons alike.

The National Association of Letter Carriers represents 277,000 active and retired letter carriers who live or work in virtually every community in America, and serves as the exclusive collectivebargaining representative for the 204,000 active city letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service. We are just as dedicated to preserving affordable, high-quality, universal mail and package delivery service for all American businesses and households as we are to defending our members.

But we are so much more than this.

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