Government affairs

Lawmakers were in town and working on Capitol Hill this week with the House continuing to work through FY 2020 appropriations among many other activities, while Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate has been focused almost entirely on confirming Administration personnel and judges.

House Activity

House Resolution 23 (H. Res. 23), which supports the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers, hit a bipartisan majority of support on Thursday. With over 218 cosponsors in the House, this resolution sends a strong message to the Postal Service that cutting back on door delivery will not be tolerated. As letter carriers know, door delivery supports America’s businesses, it is a sustainable source of revenue for the agency, and customers prefer it. Door delivery should be expanded, not restricted or eliminated.

Reaching a majority of support on H. Res. 23 is great news, but we can’t stop there. We still have many Representatives missing from H. Res. 60, which calls for strong service standards, and many more still missing from the bipartisan USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382), which would repeal the burdensome prefunding mandate. The more lawmakers we can educate on our issues, the more they will support us, and the better off we’ll be.

On Wednesday, the House passed HR 2740, the first ‘minibus’ package of appropriations bills. The bill comprises four of the twelve annual spending bills including: Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, State-Foreign Operations, and Energy-Water. The $982.8 billion package passed mostly along party lines and sets a starting point for upcoming talks with the Senate once both chambers have passed their appropriations bills.

Senate Activity

On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) advanced the nomination of John Mcleod Barger, of California, to be a Governor of the United States Postal Service for a term expiring December 8, 2021. Barger joins previously advanced nominees to the Board of Governors, Ron A. Bloom and Roman Martinez IV for full Senate confirmation, which is expected in the coming weeks. The committee still has one other nomination to consider, Mr. Robert M. Duncan of KY for his second term on the board.

NALC Priority Bills/Resolutions

H.R. 2382 – USPS Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Co-sponsors: 121 (99 Democrats – 22 Republicans)

To repeal the requirement that the United States Postal Service prepay future retirement benefits.

House Resolution 23 (H. Res. 23) – Door Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY)
Co-sponsors: 220 (181 Democrats – 39 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.

House Resolution 33 (H. Res. 33) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Co-sponsors: 253 (215 Democrats – 38 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.

House Resolution 54 (H. Res. 54) – Six-day Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Sam Graves (R-MO)
Co-sponsors: 260 (198 Democrats – 62 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.

House Resolution 60 (H. Res. 60) – Service Standards
Status: Introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Co-sponsors: 173 (151 Democrats – 22 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.

Senate Resolution 99 (S. Res. 99) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Sens. Gary Peters and Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Co-sponsors: 53 (43 Democrats – 8 Republicans – 2 Independents)
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization in whole or in part.