GOP senator renews push for postal reform

The top Republican on a key Senate oversight committee on Tuesday reintroduced a bill that would provide some financial relief for the U.S. Postal Service.

The 2011 U.S. Postal Service Improvements Act, sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, aims to cut USPS' costs and improve the agency's financial stability. The Postal Service recently has posted significant losses, including $329 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. According to Collins spokeswoman E.R. Anderson, the bill mirrors legislation introduced in December 2010.

"The Postal Service is at a crossroads," Collins said. "It must embrace fundamental change."

The legislation would fix the Postal Service's overpayment to its Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System accounts. According to the USPS inspector general, the agency contributed an extra $75 billion to the CSRS fund and an additional $6.8 billion to the FERS fund. In addition to directing the Office of Personnel Management to change its methodology for calculating USPS' pension obligations and improving the agency's contracting practices, the bill would shift employees receiving workers' compensation to the appropriate retirement system upon reaching retirement age.

Collins on Feb. 3 introduced standalone legislation that would reduce federal workforce costs by reforming the workers' compensation process for employees eligible to retire.

The 1916 Federal Employees' Compensation Act provides basic compensation, along with medical, rehabilitation and death benefits, for government workers injured on the job. The Labor Department's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs administers the benefits paid to about 49,000 federal employees monthly. Collins has expressed concern that more than 2,000 employees currently receiving federal workers' compensation benefits are 70 years or older.

"We felt like we need to take every avenue to look at the federal workers' compensation program," Anderson said. "It's a way to bring extra focus to something [Collins] has been interested in."

USPS spokesman Gerald McKiernan said the agency is reviewing the bill but is pleased at Collins' continued interest in the Postal Service.

President Obama's fiscal 2012 budget proposal provides some short-term financial relief for the Postal Service. It would return FERS overpayments to the Postal Service over 30 years, including $550 million in fiscal 2011. The agency also would receive $4 billion in temporary relief from its retiree health benefits pre-funding requirement in fiscal 2011, though it would be required to make up the difference with larger payments in future years.