I will never forget an in flight conversation from a couple years ago. The National Postal Forum (www.npf.org) had just wrapped up and I was heading back to Minneapolis. I sat down and started a casual airplane conversation with my neighbor. We exchanged obligatory job titles, responsibilities and reasons for travels. At that point, my neighbor proceeded to proclaim, with indignation, that the United States Postal Service (USPS) must be run by crazy people. He explained that any non-government organization would be able to run such an operation with significant profits, similar to FedEx or UPS. I was reminded of this exchange today when I heard about some good legislative news.
Today the House postal oversight subcommittee approved legislation that will increase USPS cash flow by an average of $5.6 billion per year through 2016. While this is by no means guarantees the legislation will pass, it is a step in the right direction. The change will eliminate previously established requirements that have the USPS funding a 75 year future retiree health benefit liability, within ten years. This is one of many unique mandates, but each step forward will help ensure a sustainable USPS.
For our Postmaster General John E Potter’s complete thoughts on the state of the USPS financial situation and his plan for action, take a look at his April 2010 United States Senate statement: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/testimony/2010/pr10_pmg0422.htm .
Josh Evans