Government affairs

The House and Senate were in session most of the week working on a wide range of issues. Both chambers plan to continue working in Washington through next week before departing for the 4th of July and returning to Washington the week of July 20 where they are expected to remain until August 7.

The House of Representatives had a particularly busy week, beginning on Monday, when they unveiled a $1.5 trillion surface transportation package, that includes $25 billion for investment in Postal Service infrastructure. Read more about the bill, here.

The week ended with the passage of two major pieces of legislation in the House.

On Thursday, the lower chamber passed the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,” (H.R. 7120) while the Senate failed to pass the “Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities Everywhere Act of 2020” (JUSTICE Act, S. 3985). Read more here.

The week ended in the House with the passage of the “Washington, D.C. Admission Act” (H.R. 51), a measure that would give the District of Columbia statehood and along with it, two U.S. Senators and one House Representative. The House last voted on a similar measure in 1993, which was defeated, making this week’s vote a significant one. In response, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has flatly rejected consideration in the Senate. Read NPR’s story here.

The Senate continued working to advance nominations and began work on the "National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2021” (S. 4049), which will be on the Senate floor next week. The House Committee on Armed Services will begin work on their measure (H.R. 6395) next week.

Postal News

On Wednesday, a caravan of workers within the labor movement swept through Capitol Hill to deliver 2 million signatures calling for relief for the Postal Service in the next Covid-19 package. Read more about it, here (subscription may be required).

With regards to whether there will be another Covid-19 relief package, the House and Senate are expected to resume conversations on July 20, when the chambers return from a two-week in-district work period. NALC members should continue to use this time to educate their members of Congress in both chambers and be ready for action beginning July 20 until a deal is reached to secure stability for the Postal Service through the pandemic.

NALC Priority Bills/Resolutions

H.R. 2382/S. 2965 – USPS Fairness Act
Status: Passed House of Representatives, introduced in Senate by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Co-sponsors: 7 Senate (4 Democrats – 3 Republicans)
House vote: 309 Yea (222 Democrats – 87 Republicans) – 106 Nays (105 Republicans – 1 Independent)

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: 261 (207 Democrats – 54 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: 267 (226 Democrats – 41 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: 293 (217 Democrats – 76 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: 206 (180 Democrats – 26 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: 54 (44 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.

H.R. 2478 – Fed Retirement Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Tom Cole (R-OK)
Co-sponsors: 58 (45 Democrats – 13 Republicans)

To provide certain federal employees the opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions for time spent as temporary employees after Dec. 31, 1988, thus making such time creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Now applies to temporary postal employees, such as letter carriers who spent time as casuals, TEs, and CCAs.