House urged to eliminate mail delivery day

A Republican lawmaker is seeking to reverse an appropriations measure that mandates six-day delivery by the U.S. Postal Service.

In a letter sent Tuesday to House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., requested the committee drop language from fiscal 2012 financial services appropriations legislation that would require the Postal Service to maintain six-day mail delivery. USPS, which faces financial insolvency and a potential $8 billion loss in fiscal 2011, has proposed eliminating Saturday delivery.

"The six-day delivery proviso imposes a $3 billion annual unfunded mandate on the U.S. Postal Service, according to the USPS," Issa wrote. "If the status quo continues, the USPS will be insolvent before the end of fiscal 2012 -- placing all USPS operations at risk, not just Saturday delivery."

According to Issa, eliminating the provision could save USPS $3 billion annually.

Issa in June introduced legislation that would allow USPS to drop a delivery day and to adjust its labor costs in an effort to bring the agency back into the black. The bill would mandate postal employees pay the same health and life insurance premium percentages as other federal workers, and it would ensure that total compensation at USPS is comparable to the private sector. It also would require arbitrators to consider the agency's finances during labor negotiations, modify contracting policies and create two oversight bodies to manage changes at USPS.

Postal officials have continued to ask for the flexibility to eliminate a delivery day, as well as other legislative changes to help bring the agency back to fiscal health. In addition to Issa's bill, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has sponsored legislation that would grant USPS the authority to alter its delivery schedule. Other postal reform proposals, including bills sponsored by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, do not specify such changes, however.

Officials from the four unions representing postal workers on Tuesday urged members to contact lawmakers and ask them to retain the six-day provision included in the bill. According to a letter sent to members of the American Postal Workers Union, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, eliminating Saturday delivery would result in a loss of 80,000 jobs and threaten universal service.

The Rules Committee is set to consider the bill Wednesday afternoon.