Group asks appropriators to back off on postal issues

A group pushing to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service is calling on congressional appropriators to limit their interest in the cash-strapped agency.

The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, which represents trade associations and companies within the mailing industry, says that too much attention from the Appropriations committees could make it more difficult for lawmakers to find common ground on a broad postal reform bill.

The group, in letters obtained by The Hill, reached out to lawmakers after Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) included an amendment that would make it more difficult for the Postal Service to close facilities.

“Bringing in additional issues can only generate additional uncertainty and potential delay in the passage of reform legislation that is so critical to returning the Postal Service to financial stability,” the coalition wrote to the top Democrat and Republican on both the House and Senate appropriations committees.

As the letter notes, appropriators have historically weighed in on the number of days the Postal Service should deliver the mail.

Both the closing of facilities and delivery standards are among the delicate issues lawmakers face in revamping USPS, which is billions of dollars in the red. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has said that the agency needs to cut some $22.5 billion from its annual budget by 2016.

The Senate passed a postal reform bill in April that would force USPS to wait at least two years to scrap Saturday delivery, which Donahoe says is a key cost-cutting measure.

With mail volume declining, USPS is also moving forward with a plan to consolidate its mail processing centers.

House Republicans hope to vote on their postal reform bill before breaking for August recess. That measure would allow the shift to five day-delivery more quickly, and allows a BRAC-style task force to recommend a plan for consolidating facilities.

As The Washington Post reported last month, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the key sponsors of the Senate postal bill, sparred with Durbin over the Illinois Democrat’s amendment, saying it would place the chamber’s “comprehensive reform in jeopardy.”

The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service has backed the Senate bill, and called on the House to quickly pass its measure.

---