The 2016 Postal Service Reform Act was unanimously backed this week by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Earlier attempts at reform have not received a vote in the House, and this measure mirrors a Senate bill which has languished without progress.
The bill, supported by both the Republican chairman and ranking Democratic members of the Committee (Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md) would reintroduce–but decrease–a temporary price increase which expired in April, and set the Postal Regulation Commission a 2018 target to review how postal pricing structure, taking into account customer and service considerations as well as economics. It also makes new provisions for funding employees’ retirement.
Opponents of the bill object to the increase in the postal rate.
