Back in April, President Trump launched a USPS task force through an executive order and gave the group four months to report recommendations to reform the USPS.
The task force delivered its recommendations to the White House in August, but findings won’t be made public until November.
Trump directed the task force to make their recommendations actionable, either through legislation or regulation.
Over the summer, the team met with a variety of stakeholders including industry groups and employee representatives.
The industry expects that the report will make some mention of the administrations reorganization plan, which includes a proposal to privatize the USPS once it becomes profitable. An idea that has been met with tremendous opposition from the industry.
If the task force takes the legislation route, bills in the House and Senate could help to eliminate the USPS mandate to pre-fund future retiree’s health care benefits. Though the USPS has defaulted on these lump sum payments over the last few years, it continues to show as a deficit to their bottom line. By shifting retirees to Medicare as the primary provider and amortizing the remaining liabilities over the next 40-years, the USPS would reduce the liability to the Federal Employees Retirement System, provide a permanent boost to USPS pricing, and gain freedom to seek new revenue streams.
The task force was asked to submit recommendations that don’t shift cost to taxpayers and to consider the views of the USPS workforce, its customers and competitors. They were also to evaluate declining mail volume, growth of package delivery, and the general state of their business model.
In other news, the Senate approved two Board nominees and has received nominations for two more.
The board has been without a quorum for four years. Only the postmaster general and her deputy serve on a temporary emergency committee today. If the two newest nominees are confirmed, the board would have the six members it needs to cast votes and make decisions which could finally get things moving in Washington. Let’s just hope it moves in the right direction. We’ll keep you informed as things unfold.