Postal Service Reform Act of 2022

The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 is a

The act was first introduced on May 11, 2021, by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).^[1] The House of Representatives then passed the bill by 342–92 on February 8, 2022.^[4] On March 8, 2022, the Senate voted 79–19 to pass the bill.^[5] President Biden signed the bill into law on April 6, 2022.^[6]

Background

Similar bills to the Postal Service Reform Act have been proposed in recent years, but none passed.^[7] The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), passed in 2006, required the USPS to pre-fund benefits for future retirees, and this cost the agency about $5.5 billion annually.^[8] The PAEA required the USPS to pre-fund these pensions more than fifty years in advance. This requirement caused the USPS to accumulate billions in debt annually in recent years.^[9] The USPS Fairness Act would have allowed the USPS to still continue to pay benefits from the accumulated funding (about $56.8 billion in 2020) until depleted, but the intended purpose of the USPS Fairness Act was to remove the pre-funding requirements placed on the agency by the PAEA.^[7][9] That bill passed in the House (309—106) in 2019^[10] but died in the Senate.

Provisions

The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022:

• Enacts the USPS Fairness Act, eliminating the requirement to pre-fund retiree benefits^[11][12]
• Requires retiring postal employees to enroll in Medicare parts A and B to receive USPS health care benefits^[11][13]
• Requires continued transportation of letters and packages in an integrated network, so growth in
  first class mail delivery^[14][15]
• Requires delivery of mail six days a week (except
  federal holidays, emergencies, and areas not scheduled for regular six-day delivery as of April 6, 2022)^[16]
• Creates an exception to the PAEA's prohibition of USPS non-postal services by authorizing the USPS to rent property and provide non-postal services for state and local governments (such as processing license and permit transactions) to raise revenue.^[17][18]
• Requires the USPS to set performance targets and publish
  performance metrics on its website^[19]
• Requires the USPS to review cost allocation accounting for its monopoly services[20]
• Reduces mailing fees for rural newspapers^[21]
• Requires a study on efficiency of mailing flats^[22]
• Requires detailed operational reports to the Postal Regulatory Commission, President, Congress every six months^[23]
• Adjusts language concerning standards for choosing mail transportation methods,
  air mail service^[18]
• Abolishes the Inspector General of the Postal Regulatory Commission, with its "duties and responsibilities" being assumed by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General^[25]

References

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