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H.R. 22 which originally introduced in 2005 by Rep McHugh, John M. [NY-23] and was meant to reform postal law. It also included Title VIII (Sec. 803).

This is an excerpt taken from The Library of Congress: Title VIII (Sec. 803) establishes in the Treasury a Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, to be administered by OPM, to cover the unfunded Postal Service liability for health care costs of current and future retirees. Requires the Postal Service, beginning in 2006, to compute the net present value of the future payments required and attributable to the service of Postal Service employees during the most recently ended fiscal year, along with an amortization schedule which provides for the liquidation of the net value amounts. Directs the Postal Service, for each year, to pay into the above Fund such net present value and the annual installment due under the amortization schedule. Makes OPM actuarial computations subject to PRC review.

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Major provisions to H.R. 22 have begun to gain support. The following is taken from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) website listing some of the proposed reforms.

"SUMMARY

H.R. 22 would change the laws that govern the operation of the United States Postal Service (USPS), particularly those regarding the cost of pensions and health care benefits of retired workers and the requirement to hold certain funds in escrow. CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would result in on-budget savings of $35.7 billion and off-budget costs of $41.6 billion over the 2006-2015 period. (The net expenditures of the USPS are classified as "off-budget.") Thus, CBO estimates the net cost to the unified budget would be $5.9 billion over the 2006-2015 period. All of those effects reflect changes in direct spending. In addition, we estimate that implementing H.R. 22 would have discretionary costs of about $1.6 billion over the 2006-2015 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. (Enacting the bill would not affect federal revenues.)

Enacting H.R. 22 would not affect how much the federal government spends on pension or health care benefits for USPS retirees. By increasing how much the Postal Service pays to finance those benefits and by eliminating the current-law escrow account requirements, however, the bill would increase future budget deficits as measured by the unified federal budget. Eliminating the escrow account requirement for the USPS would allow that agency to increase spending for capital improvements or other projects, pay down its outstanding debt, postpone or diminish future rate increases, or some combination of these options. Enacting the bill also would reduce direct spending by making the costs of the Postal Rate Commission and the USPS Office of the Inspector General subject to appropriation.

H.R. 22 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.

Major provisions of H.R. 22 would:

- Eliminate a requirement in Public Law 108-18 (P.L. 108-18), the Postal Civil Service Retirement Funding Reform Act of 2003, that the Postal Service place savings from reduced pension contributions in escrow.


- Transfer from the Postal Service to the Department of the Treasury responsibility for paying pension costs associated with military service credits.


- Replace direct payments the Postal Service is making for retiree health care costs with payments designed to prefund some of the health care costs of current employees when they retire.


- Revise the procedure for raising postal rates.


- Strengthen the USPS Board of Governors and the Postal Rate Commission, which would be redesignated the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).


- Make other changes designed to increase the Postal Service's competitiveness with private industry."

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May 26, 2009