House Panel Approves Postal Reform Bill
House committee approved a bill Wednesday that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to raise rates more easily and operate more like a private business, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, the two largest U.S. package-delivery companies said they supported changes in the postal system.
The 39-0 vote by the House Government Reform Committee would bring the biggest changes to the U.S. Postal Service in 35 years, Bloomberg said.
The bill moves next to the House floor, and a similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.
The bill would eliminate a requirement next year that USPS put $3.1 billion of annual savings into an escrow account that can't be spent without congressional approval.
It also would shift to the Treasury Department the burden for paying retirement benefits for military service of postal employees.
Meanwhile, UPS Inc. said in a statement Wednesday that it supported the House bill, and a FedEx Corp. official said Tuesday that the postal service should stop requiring monthly and quarterly statements on mail deliveries, because they are costly and unnecessary, Bloomberg reported.
Steven Taylor, vice president of regulatory affairs for FedEx Express, told officials at a Transportation Department hearing that the reports cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to generate.
FedEx won a contract in 2001 to carry U.S. mail. Taylor said at the hearing that there was no clear and compelling reason for the reports, Bloomberg reported.
UPS is ranked No. 1 and FedEx is No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
