Government affairs

Today, the House Committee on Appropriations passed the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Act, which has broad jurisdiction over agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury Department, the Office of Management and Budget, the General Services Administration, the Judiciary, the Small Businesses Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Of particular importance to letter carriers, the committee once again preserved NALC’s long-standing language preserving six-day mail delivery. The inclusion is undoubtedly a direct result of the work letter carriers did on achieving 253 cosponsors (182 Democrat, 71 Republican) on H.Res. 15.

Now that the bill has passed out the full committee, it will be referred to the House floor where it is expected to be considered before August recess along with other appropriations measures. During the hearing, the committee also adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) stating that “the Postal Service shall maintain and comply with service standards for First Class Mail and periodicals effective on July 1, 2012.” This marks the third Congress that such an inclusion has been made and is also a direct result of successful lobbying efforts on reaching on 226 cosponsors (176 Democrat, 50 Republican) on H. Res 31.

However, as has been the case in recent years, the appropriations process will likely not be completed in time for the end of the fiscal year, which will result in temporary funding measures before an eventual omnibus package passed.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to release its counterpart bill, though the committee is expected to take up the measure in the coming weeks. NALC will monitor the introduction of the Senate bill and continue to monitor the progression of the House measure.