Quick Printing

APR 2014

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clauses are prospectively barred in Postal Service collective bargaining agreements. Subjects postal employees to the same Reduction-in-Force authority as the rest of the federal workforce. Any employees who lose their jobs due to current restruc- turing will have preferential hiring status among Postal Service contractors. Postal Specific Pension Assump- tions. Uses Postal Service specific demo- graphic assumptions to more accurately calculate the Postal Service's total liabili- ties and annual payments for both the FERS and the CSRS pension systems. Protects Rural Post Offices. Lim- its the closure of rural post offices and requires the Postal Service to consider broadband penetration, cellular phone service, and distance to closest replace- ment service in determining whether to close post offices. Creates a Chief Innovation Officer. Creates a Chief Innovation Officer to focus the Postal Service's efforts to iden- tify and grow new postal and authorized non-postal products to help enhance the Postal Service's revenue. Enhances Innovation Cap Lim- its. Raises the limits on experimental products market test cap limits to help encourage innovation and develop new products. Here are the highlights of S. 1486 as originally introduced in August 2013, taken from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs website (www. hsgac.senate.gov/media/minority-media/ chairman-carper-ranking-member- coburn-introduce-bipartisan-postal- reform-bill): • Pension Reforms. Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) use actuarial data to determine how much the Postal Service must pay into the two federal pension programs—the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to more accurately reflects the amount of the Postal Service's pro- jected liability. This reform is expected to result in a Postal Service FERS surplus. The Postal Service would be permitted to request and receive up to $6 billion of any surplus, which could be spent to retire Postal Service debt and give it need- ed liquidity. In addition, the bill would allow the Postal Service and postal unions to bargain over the extent of new postal employees' participation in FERS and the Thrift Savings Program (TSP). • Health Care Reforms. Eliminates the Postal Service's statutory retiree health pre-funding and replace it with a less aggressive 40-year amortization of the Postal Service's retiree health lia- bility. Implements provisions requiring that 1) health plans be created to meet the needs of postal retirees enrolled in Medicare parts A and B, some of whom currently purchase full Medicare and Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) coverage; and 2) postal retirees not enrolled in Medicare be given the opportunity to do so penalty-free. Allows the Postal Service and the postal unions to bargain over the creation of a new health plan for postal employees, either within or outside of FEHBP. • Service Changes. Places a morato- rium on service standard changes and plant closings for two years, keeping all plants open as of the date of enactment in operation for the duration of the moratorium. Codifies the Postal Service's current plan to find savings in its retail operations without closing post offices. Preserves Saturday delivery for at least a year. Requires the Postal Service to use the most cost effective means of mail delivery, requiring centralized or curbside delivery for new addresses and business addresses, and requires the Postal Service to seek to convert residential addresses from door delivery to centralized or curb- side delivery on a voluntary basis. • Revenue and Innovation. Stream- lines the current rate-setting process, giv- ing the Postal Service more authority to set prices on its own while preserving a more flexible CPI rate cap until 2016, when the rate cap would expire. Gives the Postal Service enhanced authority to innovate and introduce new non-postal products that take advantage of its retail and mail processing, transportation, and delivery network. Authorizes the Postal Service to offer services on behalf of fed- eral, state, or local government agencies. Lifts the current prohibition on shipping beer, wine, and distilled spirits, allowing the Postal Service to deliver under the same rules as private sector shippers. • Federal Workers Compensation Reform. Contains the Workers Compen- sation Act of 2013, which reforms the workers' compensation program for fed- eral employees who are injured on the job. The act brings compensation levels for older workers more in line with retire- ment benefits, strengthens programs for helping injured workers get back on the job, makes other updates and improve- ments. Both the House and Senate bills have a lot in common and are consistent with the USPS 5-Year Plan. There are changes in services and facility closures, pension and health care reform, and revenue innovation. The main differences are in the specific approach to achieving these changes. However, in mid-December, after one last effort to get the Senate bill to the floor for debate and vote, time ran out and Congress adjourned for 2013. Sena- tors Tom Carper and Tom Coburn hoped to return to the legislation in 2014. Finally, Some Good News Two recent announcements have brought good news to the USPS. In Octo- ber 2013 the PRC approved a National Service Agreement (NSA) between the USPS and Amazon for seven-day delivery of packages to residential addresses in Los Angeles and New York metropolitan areas. Delivery began in November 2013 and is expected to quickly be expanded to other major cities like Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Phoenix. And 2013 ended with the announce- ment on December 24, 2013 that the PRC had partially granted the USPS request for an exigent rate increase to recover losses from the 2008 recession. The PRC found that the USPS had expe- rienced financial harm and was legally entitled to implement a price increase that exceeded the CPI-U. The increase will not, however, be permanent as requested by the USPS, but only in effect until the exigent losses of $2.8 billion are collected—less than two years. The 4.3 percent exigent rate increase was implemented in conjunc- tion with the inflation-based adjustment of 1.7 percent that was approved earlier by the PRC. The overall adjustment of six percent became effective on January 26, 2014. ◗◗ Nancy DeDiemar is a former chairman of NAQP and Printer of the Year. She is the co-publisher of Printips (MyPRINTResource. com/10206473), a newsletter subscription service for printers. Contact her at Nan- cy91762@gmail.com. PRIORITY MAIL 28 Q U I C K P R I N T I N G / A p r i l 2 0 1 4 w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m QP_27-28_0414 PriorityMail.indd 28 3/18/14 3:59 PM

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