From the National Association of Postal Supervisors:

Senate Could Take Up Postal Measure Soon

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told his Democratic colleagues that he intends to schedule floor time in February for the consideration of comprehensive postal reform legislation.  The Senate returns next week from its month-long holiday recess to begin the new session. The House returned this week.

According to Senate staff, Reid’s scheduling plan looks to Senate action on postal reform before mid-February.  It envisions postal reform as the second item of business in the new session, following Senate action on internet piracy legislation. Reid intends to bring the internet legislation to the floor next week, but growing controversy over the legislation is generating significant opposition, potentially scrambling Reid’s scheduling plans.

Meanwhile, the bipartisan team of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) are readying a postal legislative package for floor action.  Their bill, S. 1789, was approved as amended on November 9 by the Senate Commitee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.  A number of other Senators are likely to offer further amendments when the bill comes to the floor.

Also, action on the payroll tax holiday legislation, which the Congress extended for only two months in December, will also occupy Senate (and House) floor time in February.  Because differing versions were approved by the two chambers, Senate and House conferees will begin to meet next week to start to hammer out the differences.  The current extension expires on February 29.  A crucial part of the House-approved approach toward financing the payroll tax holiday, which NAPS opposes, would increase the FERS and CSRS retirement contributions of current postal and federal employees by 1.5 percent over the next three years.  It also would extend the two-year federal employee pay freeze by an additional year.

Growing Critism of USPS Plant Consolidation on Capitol Hill

In other developments, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), became one of the  latest members of Congress to go on record against the proposed closure of up to 252 of about 461 mail processing facilities.  The USPS plant consolidation plan, which would eliminate nearly 30,000 jobs, has unleashed a flood of criticism from Washington lawmakers.

“This plan has profoundly negative implications for timely and  reliable mail service in northern, western and eastern Maine, a  geographically vast and rural area of our state,” Snowe said in a news  release after visiting an eastern Maine processing and distribution  facility that employs 183 people and is slated for consolidation with  another plant.  She described herself as “unpersuaded” by the merits of the USPS plant consolidation plan, and believes it would “disproportionately slow down mail  delivery to rural areas of Maine.”

Sentiments like these prompted the Postal Service last month to impose a moratorium on  closings of all processing plants and post offices until mid-May,  although closure and consolidation studies will proceed.  The Postal Service is also pursuing a change in service standards that will drop  overnight delivery of first-class mail.  NAPS opposes the proposed change in service standards and has intervened in the Postal Regulatory Commission’s review of the change.  NAPS also favors “right-sizing” of the postal plant network, rather than closure of as significant a number of plants as USPS plans in order to save costs.

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Bruce Moyer

Legislative Counsel to NAPS

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) wants answers from the United States Postal Service and he’s going to the top. Frustrated by the lack of data to justify closings and drastic job cuts in Western New York, the Congressman is asking the U.S. Postmaster General for a meeting to discuss the issue.

“I attended the public hearing and the arguments made by some of the hundreds of businesses and customers in the room were much more compelling than anything I have seen or heard from the Postal Service,” said Congressman Higgins. “It seems that we are facing a ‘decide first, justify later’ approach which is not only unfair for communities like Western New York but bad business for the future of the U.S. Postal Service. I look forward to the opportunity to share our community’s story with the Postmaster.”

Below is the text of Congressman Higgins’ letter:

January 12, 2012

Patrick R. Donahoe
Postmaster General
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington D.C. 20260-3500

Dear Postmaster Donahoe,

I write to request a meeting with you to discuss several pressing concerns. Having participated at the January 4 public meeting regarding the targeted closing of the William Street Processing and Distribution Center in Buffalo, NY, I must bring directly to your attention that the data and analysis submitted by the USPS is inadequate, insulting and far from a compelling justification for the closing of a major postal operation in the second largest city in New York State.

The USPS provided my office with one page that listed anticipated savings without any link to primary source data, criteria used or any justification for the findings. This is unacceptable. The families and businesses that will be irrevocably impacted from this action deserve better that. My office has been actively engaged in this issue, including the fight for the retail operation in Lackawanna, NY, and continues to observe a flawed process devoid of real analysis and a rationalization of the true economic impact on my community. The USPS must not operate under a decide first justify later mentality. Western New York deserves better.

I have communicated with your office on a number of these objections and have found the responses lacking in substance and analysis that make a strong business case justifying these closures. My community of Western New York would be severely impacted by the proposed closure of the Buffalo PD&C. The economic impact of this facility is far reaching and provides a much needed business and growth climate to attract more investment.

My hope is our conversation will lead to a better understanding of the importance of maintaining this postal facility. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Brian Higgins
Member of Congress

Office of Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) News Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) this evening expressed her strenuous opposition to the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) controversial proposal to consolidate the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution Facility’s mail processing operations from Hampden into its Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Scarborough, under the guise of cost-saving. Participating at a public meeting tonight in Brewer, Senator Snowe called on the Postal Service to reevaluate its plan based on the damaging impact the agency’s actions could have on mail delivery throughout rural areas in western, northern, and eastern Maine.

Senator Snowe said:

"This plan has profoundly negative implications for timely and reliable mail service in northern, western and eastern Maine, a geographically vast and rural area of our state. To this point, Mainers have been given inadequate explanation and information by the Postal Service, and I am still not persuaded that this proposal will achieve the $7.6 million in savings the agency claims; rather, I am convinced it would disproportionately slow down mail delivery to rural areas of Maine, including for our seniors and small businesses. As such, I expressed my opposition to the agency’s proposal as currently structured at tonight’s public meeting, and I urge the Postal Service to reconsider its plan."

BACKGROUND: In her efforts to lead the charge against the USPS’s consolidation proposal, Senator Snowe visited the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution facility in Hampden on December 20, 2011 to meet with the plant’s manager and employees. During the visit, Senator Snowe expressed her opposition to the plan, and questioned the ability of the Postal Service to save money by shifting jobs from Hampden to Scarborough. She also questioned the logic of having mail travel, for example, from Fort Fairfield down to Scarborough, only to arrive back at its recipient in Madawaska several days later than is presently the case.

The Hampden facility employs 183 people at present. The general public can comment on the USPS proposal until January 26, 2012, by sending their comments to: Consumer & Industry Manager, Northern New England District, 151 Forest Ave., Suite 7026, Portland, Maine 04101-7024.

From Congressman Mike Ross (D-AR):

January 9, 2012

Washington – Last year, the United States Postal Service dramatically increased its attempts to close post offices around the country in order to help save the agency money, primarily those in rural areas. In fact, almost 200 postal facilities could possibly close here in Arkansas. As I believe the Postal Service should consider other cost-cutting alternatives, I strongly oppose the closure of these post offices as it would disproportionately hurt people in rural areas and those on fixed incomes.

The U.S. Postal Service is a self-supporting government agency whose revenue comes from the sales of its products and services – not from taxpayers. Recently, the agency said it is losing more than $23 million a day as a result of the economic slowdown and an increase in electronic media, such as e-mail. However, I believe the Postal Service’s troubles are much more than the economy and the Internet. The financial problems plaguing the U.S. Postal Service are due to failed management, inadequate planning and poor business practices – problems that closing a few post offices simply won’t fix.

I am also skeptical of the overall closing process, because it appears the Postal Service places little emphasis on the reaction and concerns raised by people in the affected communities. That’s why I have sent numerous letters to the Postal Service requesting a top-to-bottom review of the entire closing process and opposing the closing of post offices altogether.

I also recently joined an effort to get more than 75 Members of Congress to sign a letter to the Postal Regulatory Commission to stop the closing process and work with Congress to help find a long-term solution that protects customers and ensures the longevity of the postal system. The letter argued “widespread post office closures is the wrong way to deal with the Postal Service’s fiscal problems and could harm the Postal Service’s competitiveness in the long run.”

Finally, on Dec. 13, the U.S. Postal Service announced it would delay the closing or consolidation of any post office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012, after receiving multiple requests by Members of Congress to halt the process. As someone who has fought hard against the closing of our post offices, I am pleased the Postal Service finally listened to the American people and their representatives in Congress. The temporary delay will allow Congress and the Postal Service to work together and explore other possible solutions.

For instance, I have helped introduce a bill, H.R. 1351, to eliminate a requirement that the Postal Service pre-pay future retiree medical benefits, which is not required of any other federal agency. This commonsense bill would save the Postal Service so much money that repealing this one requirement would give the agency a profit over the last four years.

I fought hard to stop the closing of post offices so that we can work together to find commonsense, longer-term solutions that do not disproportionately hurt people in rural areas who depend on their post office or those on fixed incomes that can’t afford the gas to drive longer distances. As your Congressman, I will keep listening to you and fighting for you in our nation’s capital and I will continue to monitor this issue very closely.

From last week’s USPS hearing on closing the White River Junction, Vermont mail processing facility:

Sen. Sanders Fights for the Postal Service – YouTube.

Washington, DC – (Thursday, January 5, 2012) –Today, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson acknowledged her support for the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) Report on the Postal Service’s Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI). The report outlined significant miscalculations in the USPS’s methodology for indentifying over 3,600 post offices and other retail branches for possible closure.

The Dallas Processing and Distribution Center and four retail branches in the 30th Congressional District are being considered for closure or relocation under the existing RAOI. Several smaller branches in the District have already closed or have been consolidated.

“These recent findings by the Commission align with my initial criticisms,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “Aside from the obvious job implications for tens of thousands of hard-working Americans, this attempt to reduce costs would only drastically cut services for businesses and individuals that rely heavily on the Postal Service, but not actually resolve the agency’s problem of avoiding insolvency.”

Congresswoman Johnson has met with USPS leadership in Dallas and Washington, DC since 2009 to avert any postal closures in the 30th Congressional District. Citing the same concerns as the PRC panel, Congresswoman Johnson has been vocal in her opposition to the method which the post offices were being selected. The USPS has since announced a moratorium on any post office closures until May 15, 2012.

The full report on the Postal Regulatory Commission can be found here.

Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan) tonight asked U.S. Postal Service officials to keep open its postal consolidation study and work with him to find alternatives to closing the Rockford sorting center, which would eliminate 200 local jobs and delay mail service to residents and business owners in eight northern Illinois counties.

Manzullo, who addressed USPS officials at tonight’s public comment session on its proposed move of Rockford sorting operations to Madison, Wisconsin, said the Rockford sorting center continues to be one of the most efficient in the nation and should not be closed. He again asked the USPS for information it has been withholding that would help local officials present alternatives to closing Rockford.

“We all know the U.S. Postal Service is facing very troubling times, but it makes no sense to close the most efficient sorting center in the nation, send the jobs from Rockford to Wisconsin, and delay mail delivery to residents and business owners in eight northern Illinois counties,” Manzullo said. “I am asking the USPS to keep the Rockford study open, and continue to work with us to get the data we need to find alternatives to putting 200 more people out of work and delaying mail service in northern Illinois.”

At the meeting, Manzullo presented USPS officials with resolutions of support approved on very short notice by 17 communities in northern Illinois. The closure of the Rockford sorting center would delay mail delivery to the eight counties served by zip codes beginning with 610 and 611. Those counties include Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, JoDaviess, Carroll, Whiteside, Lee, and Ogle.

In a letter to Postmaster General Pat Donahoe earlier this year, Manzullo explained how he worked with Rockford postal officials during the last consolidation study in 2006 to present alternative information that convinced the Postal Service to abandon its plan to move Rockford mail processing operations to the Chicago suburbs. Local officials again need to see the USPS data comparing operations in Rockford with Madison so they can correct it if necessary.

Manzullo has been working with U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) to seek alternatives to closing the Rockford sorting center. Manzullo, Durbin and Kirk met with Postmaster General Pat Donahoe on Nov. 1 to share their concerns with the potential move of operations to Wisconsin and the damage it would cause to northern Illinois.

BECKLEY, W.Va. – Citing a recent study that found overly optimistic savings projections and an insufficient attention to community needs, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) Tuesday called on the Postal Service to go back to the drawing board on its efforts to close and consolidate postal facilities in southern West Virginia.

“The Postal Regulatory Commission was blunt in its assessment of the Postal Service’s closure process – citing unreasonable assumptions about cost savings and an insufficient focus on the needs of communities where post offices are proposed to be closed,” said Rahall, who has been active and vocal in opposing the Postal Service’s efforts to close postal facilities in southern West Virginia. “In light of the Commission’s findings, the Postal Service should go back to the drawing board in its discontinuance studies. It needs to formulate a plan that increases network efficiencies while fulfilling its statutory service obligations.”

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), the independent government entity created by the Congress to oversee the Postal Service, recently issued its Advisory Opinion on the Postal Service’s Retail Access Optimization Initiative – the current effort to close nearly 3,700 post offices nationwide, including 85 post offices in southern West Virginia. The Commission found that the Postal Service was unable to provide the data necessary to confirm its cost savings projections associated with the post offices proposed for closure. The Commission also expressed concerns about ensuring that alternatives are available to meet the needs of affected communities prior to a postal facility closure decision. The Commission concluded that “notwithstanding its name, the Retail Access Optimization Initiative is not designed to optimize the retail network.”

In a concurring opinion, PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway strongly rebuked the Postal Service’s closure process, noting: “The Commission has recently heard appeals on more than 60 individual post office closings. The records in these cases reveal a pattern of inaccurate and overly optimistic economic savings calculations and of careless disregard of community concerns. While the facts of those cases were not considered by the Commission in its Advisory Opinion, they nevertheless demonstrate an ongoing institutional bias within the Postal Service that presumes closing small post offices automatically provides cost savings and network efficiencies.”

In October, Rahall urged the Postal Service to place a moratorium on any post office closures until a practical and realistic plan for managing and responding to legitimate citizen concerns had been formulated. He welcomed the Postal Service’s decision to postpone any closings or consolidations until May 15, 2012, and urged citizens to press the Postal Service to rethink current closure plans.

“Rural areas, like southern West Virginia, have the least access to the Internet, email, and cell phone service; we need our post offices. Postal services play a tremendous role in the ability of citizens in these areas to stay connected. Until a plan is developed that does not compromise the current services available to my constituents, I implore you to stop further proceedings to close or consolidate postal facilities in southern West Virginia,” Rahall wrote in a letter to the Postmaster General in response to the Advisory Opinion.

The US Postal Service took in $40 million more than it spent in November, and after two months of the new fiscal year, has a net income of $152 million. In the private sector that would be called a “profit”. Thanks to Congressional accounting gimmicks, however, the USPS will report a net loss of over $1.8 billion for the two month period. The entire $1.8 billion loss is due not to USPS operations, but to legislation enacted by the Bush Administration and the GOP controlled Congress in 2006 that requires the USPS to contribute $5.6 billion to a so-called “trust fund”, which has so far amassed over $42 billion from USPS profits.

While right wing politicians claim the trust fund is simply a “prudent” measure, no other agency or company has a similar burden. The real reason for the requirement appears to be the shifting of billions of dollars of the national debt on to the USPS, which is, conveniently, “off-budget”. The politically induced “bankruptcy” also provides cover for draconian legislation proposed by Darrell Issa, which would dismantle USPS bargaining agreements, and set up a postal “death panel” to gut the service’s infrastructure.

As far as “real world” financial results are concerned, USPS expenses remained level with the prior year, but revenue was down 3.5%. The decline in revenue reflected the continuing drop in mail volume, which dropped 6.3%, or 2 billion fewer pieces of mail. Standard mail, which had shown some growth last year, is down 7.3% in FY 2012 so far. The only bright spot in the volume numbers was the 33.6% increase in shipping services volume. While ecommerce driven package delivery is an obvious growth opportunity for the USPS, the problem is that it still represents just 15% of total revenue.

USPS Preliminary Financial Information (Unaudited) for November.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and one of the authors of bipartisan postal reform legislation, today issued the following statement regarding the Postal Regulatory Commission’s advisory opinion on the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to close as almost 3700 post offices and other retail facilities. The Postal Service is required to ask the PRC for a non binding opinion on nationwide service changes.

The PRC said “the Commission’s primary finding is that the (closure plan) was not designed to optimize the network. The Commission recommends the use of modern optimization tools and techniques to better maximize net retail revenues while fulfilling statutory service obligations.”

“The Commission’s unanimous findings support my and many of my colleagues’ skepticism about the wisdom of mass postal closures without a more thoughtful, transparent, and data-driven process,” said Senator Collins. “Fortunately, such a process is included in the 21st Century Postal Reform Act, which I authored along with Senators Lieberman, Carper and Brown. Our bill would require the Postal Service to find savings and internal efficiencies first – before raising prices and cutting service that could drive away the very customers keeping the mail in business. Today’s PRC opinion only highlights the increasing urgency for Congress to pass comprehensive postal reform if we are to preserve the Postal Service for the next generation of Americans.