Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act

Bill: 109-hr-22
Sponsor: Rep. McHugh, John M. [R-NY-23]
Introduced: 2005-01-04 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Accounting
Administrative procedure
Administrative remedies
Advice and consent of the Senate
Affirmative action programs
Air cargo
Airlines
Airmail service
Annuities
Armed Forces and National Security
Auditing
Authorization
Automation
Bribery
Building laws
Capital budgets
Capital investments
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Civil actions and liability
Civil service retirement
Collection of accounts
Collective bargaining
Commerce
Competition
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Congressional-executive relations
Consumer complaints
Consumer discounts
Corporation taxes
Corporations
Cost accounting
Crime and Law Enforcement
Customs administration
Damages
Deceptive advertising
Disciplining of employees
Discrimination in employment
Dislocated workers
Dismissal of employees
Economics and Public Finance
Employee crimes
Employee-management relations in government
Environmental Protection
Executive reorganization
Express service
Federal advisory bodies
Federal employees
Federal law enforcement officers
Federal officials
Finance and Financial Sector
Financial statements
Fines (Penalties)
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Fraud
Fringe benefits
Gifts
Government contractors
Government employees' health insurance
Government liability
Government paperwork
Government procurement
Government service contracts
Government trust funds
Governmental investigations
Health
Income tax
Independent regulatory commissions
Indexing (Economic policy)
Industrial arbitration
Injunctions
Inspectors general
Intellectual property
Interest rates
International Affairs
International cooperation
Investment of public funds
Labor and Employment
Labor contracts
Larceny
Law
Legislation
Liability for environmental damages
Limitation of actions
Marketing
Mediation
Military personnel
Minorities
Minorities in government
Minority business enterprises
New products
Newspapers
Nonprofit organizations
Packaging
Payroll deductions
Pension funds
Performance measurement
Periodicals
Police
Postal Rate Commission
Postal facilities
Postal service
Presidential appointments
Privatization
Product coding
Productivity in government
Punitive damages
Regulatory impact statements
Restrictive trade practices
Retiree health benefits
Revolving funds
Science, Technology, Communications
Small business
Social Welfare
State laws
Subcontractors
Subpoena
Taxation
Transportation and Public Works
Transportation of hazardous substances
United States Postal Service
Urban affairs
Valuation
Weights and measures
Whistle blowing
Women
Women in business
Women in government
Workers' compensation
Zoning and zoning law

Summary:
action_date: 2005-01-04
text: Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act - Amends Federal postal service law to direct the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) (established by this Act) to establish a modern system for regulating rates and classes for market-dominant products (all first-class mail, special services, periodicals, standard mail, media mail, library mail, and bound printed matter). 
Directs the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service to establish rates and classes for products in the competitive category of mail (priority mail, expedited mail, mailgrams, international mail, and parcel post). 
Authorizes the Postal Service to conduct market tests of experimental products. 
Directs the PRC to establish rules to ensure that workshare discounts (presorting, barcoding, etc.) do not exceed the cost that the Postal Service avoids as the result of private sector workshare activity. 
Establishes in the Treasury a revolving Postal Service Competitive Products Fund which shall be available to the Postal Service without fiscal year limitation for the payment of: (1) costs attributable to competitive products; and (2) all other costs incurred by the Postal Service, to the extent allocable to competitive products.
Requires the Postal Service to: (1) compute its assumed Federal income tax (which would be the taxable income of a corporation) on competitive products income for such year; and (2) transfer from the Competitive Products Fund to the Postal Service Fund the amount of that assumed tax. 
Prohibits the Postal Service from: (1) establishing anti-competitive rules or regulations; (2) compelling the disclosure, transfer, or licensing of intellectual property to any third party; or (3) obtaining information from a person that provides any product, and then offering any product or service that uses or is based in whole or in part on such information, without the person's consent. 
Makes the Secretary of State responsible for foreign policy related to international postal services and other international delivery services. 
 
 
Replaces the Postal Rate Commission with the Postal Regulatory Commission. 
 
Directs the Postal Service to report to the President, Congress, and: (1) PRC on universal postal service in the United States; and (2) Postal Service Board of Governors on the postal processing and distribution network. 
Repeals the authority of the Postal Service to impose fines on air carriers transporting mail beyond U.S. borders for unreasonable or unnecessary delays and other delinquencies. 
Directs the Postal Service to prescribe regulations for the safe transportation of hazardous materials in the mail. Provides civil penalties, plus cleanup costs, for violations. 
Revises postal pension funding requirements under the Civil Service Retirement System. Establishes the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
action_date: 2005-04-28
text: 
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act - 
Title I: Definitions; Postal Services - 
(Sec. 101) Amends Federal postal law to add definitions.
 
(Sec. 102) States that nothing in this Act shall be considered to: (1) permit or require the Postal Service to provide any special nonpostal or similar services; or (2) prevent the Postal Service from providing any such services provided as of January 4, 2005.
 
(Sec. 103) Requires that the Postal Service be subject to a high degree of transparency, including in its finances and operations.
 

Title II: Modern Rate Regulation - 
(Sec. 201) Directs the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) (established by this Act) to establish a modern system for regulating rates and classes for market-dominant products (all first-class mail and special services, periodicals, non-parcel post standard mail, media mail, library mail, and bound printed matter). Prohibits the PRC from allowing the average rate in any subclass of mail to increase at an annual rate greater than the comparable increase in the Consumer Price Index, unless it has determined that such increase is reasonable and necessary to enable the Postal Service to maintain and continue the development of U.S. postal services. 
 
(Sec. 202) Directs the Postal Service Board of Governors to establish rates and classes for products in the competitive category of mail (priority mail, expedited mail, mailgrams, international mail, and parcel post).
 
Directs the PRC to promulgate (and from time to time revise) regulations to: (1) prohibit the subsidization of competitive products by market-dominant products; (2) ensure that each competitive product covers its attributable costs; and (3) ensure that all competitive products collectively make a reasonable contribution to Postal Service institutional costs.
 
(Sec. 203) Authorizes the Postal Service, under specified conditions, to conduct market tests of experimental products, requiring notification of the PRC of the nature and scope of each test. Prohibits a market test from exceeding 24 months, but allows the PRC to extend such period up to 12 additional months when determined necessary.
 
Authorizes the PRC, following specified criteria, to change the lists of market-dominant products and competitive products by adding or removing products, or transferring products between lists. Prohibits the transfer from the market-dominant category of products covered by the postal monopoly. Requires the Postal Service to notify the PRC whenever it requests to add a product or transfer a product to a different category. Prohibits a product that involves the carriage of letters, printed matter, or mailable packages from being offered by the Postal Service unless it has been assigned to the market-dominant or competitive category of mail.
 
(Sec. 204) Requires the PRC to report annually to the President and Congress.
 
Requires annual reports from the Postal Service to the PRC which: (1) analyze Postal Service costs, revenues, and rates; and (2) provide market information and measures of quality of service with respect to market-dominant products provided. Requires such reports to: (1) be audited by the Postal Service Inspector General; and (2) include information relating to workshare discounts (discounts provided to mailers for presorting, prebarcoding, handling, or transporting mail). Requires the PRC to make annual determinations of Postal Service compliance with regulatory requirements.
 
(Sec. 205) Repeals current provisions concerning postal service and rate complaints procedures and an annual report on international services provided by the Postal Service. Establishes new complaint procedures which require the PRC to: (1) begin proceedings on complaints or dismiss them within 90 days; (2) treat as dismissed complaints not acted on within such period; and (3) order the Postal Service to take appropriate corrective actions with respect to determined violations. Authorizes the PRC to: (1) temporarily suspend rates or classifications; and (2) order fines in cases of deliberate noncompliance.
 
Authorizes appellate review for persons adversely affected by any PRC final order or decision.
 
(Sec. 206) Directs the PRC to establish rules for workshare discounts to ensure that such discounts do not exceed the cost that the Postal Service avoids as the result of private sector workshare activity (with exceptions). Requires the Postal Service to notify the PRC whenever it establishes a workshare discount rate.
 

Title III: Provisions Relating to Fair Competition - 
(Sec. 301) Establishes in the Treasury a revolving Postal Service Competitive Products Fund to be available to the Postal Service without fiscal year limitation for the payment of: (1) costs attributable to competitive products; and (2) all other costs incurred by the Postal Service, to the extent allocable to competitive products. Provides for deposits into, and administration of, the Fund. Requires Postal Service reports to the Secretary of the Treasury and the PRC with respect to Fund administration and uses.
 
(Sec. 302) Requires the Postal Service to compute its assumed Federal income tax on competitive products income for each year and transfer from the above Fund to the Postal Service Fund the amount of the assumed tax.
 
(Sec. 303) Prohibits the Postal Service from: (1) establishing anti-competitive rules or regulations; (2) compelling the disclosure, transfer, or licensing of intellectual property to any third party; or (3) obtaining information from a person that provides any product, and then offering any product or service that uses or is based in whole or part on such information, without the person's consent.
 
(Sec. 304) Subjects all Postal Service: (1) activities to Federal laws prohibiting the conduct of business in a fraudulent manner; and (2) conduct with respect to competitive products to Federal antitrust laws and unfair competition standards. Eliminates Postal Service sovereign immunity protection. Requires the Postal Service to: (1) consider local zoning or land use regulations and building codes when constructing or altering buildings; and (2) represent itself in most legal proceedings (currently, representation is provided through the Department of Justice).
 
(Sec. 305) Makes the Secretary of State responsible for foreign policy related to international postal services and other international delivery services. Provides for the application of customs laws with respect to such services.
 

Title IV: General Provisions - 
(Sec. 401) Revises qualification requirements with respect to members of the Postal Service Board of Governors. Requires the President to: (1) consult with specified congressional leaders in selecting individuals for Board nomination; and (2) select at least four Governors based solely on their demonstrated ability in managing substantial organizations or corporations. 
 
(Sec. 402) Maintains the annual $3 billion cap on Postal Service borrowing for capital investments and operating expenses, while eliminating individual caps on each.
 
(Sec. 403) Revises provisions concerning the private carriage of letters (letters carried outside of normal mail service by a private carrier) to allow such private carriage in three new circumstances: (1) when the amount paid to a private carrier is at least six times the rate then currently charged for the first ounce of a single-piece first-class letter; (2) when the letter weighs at least 12 and a half ounces; and (3) when private carriage is within the scope of current Postal Service regulations that purport to suspend the operation of current law.
 
(Sec. 404) Amends Postal Service rulemaking provisions.
 
(Sec. 405) Prohibits any amendment made by or under this Act from: (1) restricting, expanding, or otherwise affecting any rights, privileges, or benefits under collective bargaining agreements, except for mediation cases; and (2) affecting existing free mail privileges.
 
(Sec. 406) Authorizes the Postal Service to establish one or more programs to provide bonuses and other rewards to Postal Service officers and employees. Requires bonus or reward information to be included in currently-required annual Postal Service comprehensive statements.
 
(Sec. 407) Requires the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, in Postal Service collective bargaining disputes and in lieu of a current fact-finding panel, to appoint a national mediator who is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators.
 

Title V: Enhanced Regulatory Commission - 
(Sec. 501) Replaces the Postal Rate Commission with the PRC. Sets forth the terms and required qualifications of the five Commissioners. Authorizes and directs the PRC to issue rules and regulations.
 
(Sec. 502) Provides PRC authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, receive evidence, issue subpoenas, and order the taking of depositions and responses to written interrogatories.
 
(Sec. 503) Repeals Federal provisions which subjects the annual PRC budget to disapproval by the Board of Governors.
 
(Sec. 505) Requires the PRC to designate a PRC officer to represent the public interest in all PRC public proceedings.
 

Title VI: Inspectors General - 
(Sec. 601) Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide for a PRC Inspector General.
 
(Sec. 602) Requires the Postal Service Inspector General to be appointed by the President with Senate confirmation. Subjects the Postal Service to provisions of the Anti-Kickback Act of 1986 (protections against contractor kickbacks).
 
Authorizes the appropriation of amounts from the Postal Service Fund for the Inspector General.
 

Title VII: Evaluations - 
(Sec. 701) Directs the Postal Service to report to the President, Congress, and the PRC on universal postal service in the United States. Requires the PRC to submit an evaluation of such report to the President and Congress.
 
(Sec. 702) Directs the PRC to report to the President and Congress, at least every five years, concerning: (1) the operation of amendments made by this Act; and (2) recommendations for improving U.S. postal laws.
 
(Sec. 703) Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report to the President, Congress, and the PRC identifying Federal and State laws that apply differently to the Postal Service with respect to the competitive category of mail and private companies providing similar products.
 
(Sec. 704) Directs the Board of Governors to report to the President and Congress concerning women and minority representation in Postal Service supervisory and management positions.
 
(Sec. 705) Directs the Postal Service to: (1) develop, and be prepared to implement, a plan for providing reemployment assistance to displaced employees; and (2) submit to Congress and the Board of Governors a written report describing such plan.
 
(Sec. 706) Directs the Board of Governors to report to the President and Congress on the number and value of Postal service contracts and subcontracts with women, minorities, and small businesses.
 
(Sec. 707) Directs the Postal Service to report to the President and Congress on information used in determining postal costs attributable to periodicals, as well as improvements in their collection, handling, transportation, and delivery.
 
(Sec. 708) Directs the Postal Service Inspector General to report to the President, Congress, and Postal Service on the process by which postal rate assessments are determined and appealed.
 
(Sec. 709) Directs the Postal Service to report to the President, Congress, and Board of Governors on the postal processing and distribution network.
 
(Sec. 710) Requires a two-year independent study to assess the costs, benefits, effects, and future strategies for maintaining the Postal Service as wholly part of the Executive Branch, or transforming it into a private corporation in whole or in part. 
 
(Sec. 711) Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study proposals as put forth in sections 805 and 807 of this Act as introduced, that would move to a market-based rate system for the carriage of international mail.
 
(Sec. 712) Defines Board of Governors for purposes of this title.
 

Title VIII: Miscellaneous; Technical and Conforming Amendments - 
(Sec. 801) Makes permanent (currently, only for the current fiscal year) Postal Service authority to employ postal police officers to protect postal property and persons on such property.
 
(Sec. 802) Considers an appeal to the PRC of a post office closing as timely if postmarked within 30 days after notification of such closure.
 
(Sec. 803) Ensures the continuity of benefits through the Postal Service for employees of the former Post Office Department.
 
(Sec. 804) Repeals obsolete Federal postal laws. Eliminates the four-year limit on postal transportation contracts.
 
(Sec. 805) Prohibits the use of Postal Service Fund amounts to invest in commercial obligations or securities.
 
(Sec. 806) Reduces postal rates for &quot;within county publications&quot; (such as local newspapers or weeklies).
 
(Sec. 807) Provides prohibitions and penalties for the illegal use of the mails to transport hazardous matter. Requires opportunity for a violation hearing before the Postal Service.
 
(Sec. 808) Directs the PRC to examine the Domestic Mail Manual to determine whether it contains adequate safeguards to protect against: (1) abuses of rates for nonprofit mail; and (2) deception of consumers.
 

Title IX: Postal Pension Funding Reform Amendments - 
(Sec. 901) Transfers from the Postal Service to the Treasury Department responsibility for paying retirement costs of former postal employees that are related to military service. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), because of such change, to determine necessary adjustments in Postal Service contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System. Makes any OPM changes subject to PRC review.
 
(Sec. 902) 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 postal retirees. Requires the Postal Service, beginning in 2006, to make payments to such Fund equal to the unfunded liability attributable to current employees, along with interest thereon. Directs OPM to compute the required prefunding and interest payments. Subjects OPM computations to PRC review.
 
(Sec. 903) Repeals a provision of the Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act related to the disposition of savings accruing to the Postal Service.
 
(Sec. 904) Requires specified OPM calculations, for FY2006-2015, with respect to Postal Service savings achieved as the result of funding changes made under sections 901 and 902, above. Directs that such savings be used to address the Postal Service's prefunding of retiree health benefits and to pay down Postal Service debt. Limits to $3 billion the amount authorized to be used to reduce debt over such fiscal years. Requires a calculation results report from OPM to the Postal Service, the PRC, and Congress.

action_date: 2005-07-26
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on April 28, 2005. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act - 
Title I: Definitions; Postal Services - 
(Sec. 101) Amends Federal postal law to add definitions.
 
(Sec. 102) States that nothing in this Act shall be considered to: (1) permit or require the Postal Service to provide any special nonpostal or similar services; or (2) prevent the Postal Service from providing any such services provided as of January 4, 2005.
 
(Sec. 103) Requires that the Postal Service be subject to a high degree of transparency, including in its finances and operations.
 

Title II: Modern Rate Regulation - 
(Sec. 201) Directs the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) (established by this Act) to establish a modern system for regulating rates and classes for market-dominant products (all first-class mail and special services, periodicals, non-parcel post standard mail, media mail, library mail, and bound printed matter). Prohibits the PRC from allowing the average rate in any subclass of mail to increase at an annual rate greater than the comparable increase in the Consumer Price Index, unless it has determined that such increase is reasonable and necessary to enable the Postal Service to maintain and continue the development of U.S. postal services. 
 
(Sec. 202) Directs the Postal Service Board of Governors to establish rates and classes for products in the competitive category of mail (priority mail, expedited mail, mailgrams, international mail, and parcel post).
 
Directs the PRC to promulgate (and from time to time revise) regulations to: (1) prohibit the subsidization of competitive products by market-dominant products; (2) ensure that each competitive product covers its attributable costs; and (3) ensure that all competitive products collectively make a reasonable contribution to Postal Service institutional costs.
 
(Sec. 203) Authorizes the Postal Service, under specified conditions, to conduct market tests of experimental products, requiring notification of the PRC of the nature and scope of each test. Prohibits a market test from exceeding 24 months, but allows the PRC to extend such period up to 12 additional months when determined necessary.
 
Authorizes the PRC, following specified criteria, to change the lists of market-dominant products and competitive products by adding or removing products, or transferring products between lists. Prohibits the transfer from the market-dominant category of products covered by the postal monopoly. Requires the Postal Service to notify the PRC whenever it requests to add a product or transfer a product to a different category. Prohibits a product that involves the carriage of letters, printed matter, or mailable packages from being offered by the Postal Service unless it has been assigned to the market-dominant or competitive category of mail.
 
(Sec. 204) Requires the PRC to report annually to the President and Congress.
 
Requires annual reports from the Postal Service to the PRC which: (1) analyze Postal Service costs, revenues, and rates; and (2) provide market information and measures of quality of service with respect to market-dominant products provided. Requires such reports to: (1) be audited by the Postal Service Inspector General; and (2) include information relating to workshare discounts (discounts provided to mailers for presorting, prebarcoding, handling, or transporting mail). Requires the PRC to make annual determinations of Postal Service compliance with regulatory requirements.
 
(Sec. 205) Repeals current provisions concerning postal service and rate complaints procedures and an annual report on international services provided by the Postal Service. Establishes new complaint procedures which require the PRC to: (1) begin proceedings on complaints or dismiss them within 90 days; (2) treat as dismissed complaints not acted on within such period; and (3) order the Postal Service to take appropriate corrective actions with respect to determined violations. Authorizes the PRC to: (1) temporarily suspend rates or classifications; and (2) order fines in cases of deliberate noncompliance.
 
Authorizes appellate review for persons adversely affected by any PRC final order or decision.
 
(Sec. 206) Directs the PRC to establish rules for workshare discounts to ensure that such discounts do not exceed the cost that the Postal Service avoids as the result of private sector workshare activity (with exceptions). Requires the Postal Service to notify the PRC whenever it establishes a workshare discount rate.
 

Title III: Provisions Relating to Fair Competition - 
(Sec. 301) Establishes in the Treasury a revolving Postal Service Competitive Products Fund to be available to the Postal Service without fiscal year limitation for the payment of: (1) costs attributable to competitive products; and (2) all other costs incurred by the Postal Service, to the extent allocable to competitive products. Provides for deposits into, and administration of, the Fund. Requires Postal Service reports to the Secretary of the Treasury and the PRC with respect to Fund administration and uses.
 
(Sec. 302) Requires the Postal Service to compute its assumed Federal income tax on competitive products income for each year and transfer from the above Fund to the Postal Service Fund the amount of the assumed tax.
 
(Sec. 303) Prohibits the Postal Service from: (1) establishing anti-competitive rules or regulations; (2) compelling the disclosure, transfer, or licensing of intellectual property to any third party; or (3) obtaining information from a person that provides any product, and then offering any product or service that uses or is based in whole or part on such information, without the person's consent.
 
(Sec. 304) Subjects all Postal Service: (1) activities to Federal laws prohibiting the conduct of business in a fraudulent manner; and (2) conduct with respect to competitive products to Federal antitrust laws and unfair competition standards. Eliminates Postal Service sovereign immunity protection. Requires the Postal Service to: (1) consider local zoning or land use regulations and building codes when constructing or altering buildings; and (2) represent itself in most legal proceedings (currently, representation is provided through the Department of Justice).
 
(Sec. 305) Makes the Secretary of State responsible for foreign policy related to international postal services and other international delivery services. Provides for the application of customs laws with respect to such services.
 

Title IV: General Provisions - 
(Sec. 401) Revises qualification requirements with respect to members of the Postal Service Board of Governors. Requires the President to: (1) consult with specified congressional leaders in selecting individuals for Board nomination; and (2) select at least four Governors based solely on their demonstrated ability in managing substantial organizations or corporations. 
 
(Sec. 402) Maintains the annual $3 billion cap on Postal Service borrowing for capital investments and operating expenses, while eliminating individual caps on each.
 
(Sec. 403) Revises provisions concerning the private carriage of letters (letters carried outside of normal mail service by a private carrier) to allow such private carriage in three new circumstances: (1) when the amount paid to a private carrier is at least six times the rate then currently charged for the first ounce of a single-piece first-class letter; (2) when the letter weighs at least 12 and a half ounces; and (3) when private carriage is within the scope of current Postal Service regulations that purport to suspend the operation of current law.
 
(Sec. 404) Amends Postal Service rulemaking provisions.
 
(Sec. 405) Prohibits any amendment made by or under this Act from: (1) restricting, expanding, or otherwise affecting any rights, privileges, or benefits under collective bargaining agreements, except for mediation cases; and (2) affecting existing free mail privileges.
 
(Sec. 406) Authorizes the Postal Service to establish one or more programs to provide bonuses and other rewards to Postal Service officers and employees. Requires bonus or reward information to be included in currently-required annual Postal Service comprehensive statements.
 
(Sec. 407) Requires the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, in Postal Service collective bargaining disputes and in lieu of a current fact-finding panel, to appoint a national mediator who is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators.
 

Title V: Enhanced Regulatory Commission - 
(Sec. 501) Replaces the Postal Rate Commission with the PRC. Sets forth the terms and required qualifications of the five Commissioners. Authorizes and directs the PRC to issue rules and regulations.
 
(Sec. 502) Provides PRC authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, receive evidence, issue subpoenas, and order the taking of depositions and responses to written interrogatories.
 
(Sec. 503) Repeals Federal provisions which subjects the annual PRC budget to disapproval by the Board of Governors.
 
(Sec. 505) Requires the PRC to designate a PRC officer to represent the public interest in all PRC public proceedings.
 

Title VI: Inspectors General - 
(Sec. 601) Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide for a PRC Inspector General.
 
(Sec. 602) Requires the Postal Service Inspector General to be appointed by the President with Senate confirmation. Subjects the Postal Service to provisions of the Anti-Kickback Act of 1986 (protections against contractor kickbacks).
 
Authorizes the appropriation of amounts from the Postal Service Fund for the Inspector General.
 

Title VII: Evaluations - 
(Sec. 701) Directs the Postal Service to report to the President, Congress, and the PRC on universal postal service in the United States. Requires the PRC to submit an evaluation of such report to the President and Congress.
 
(Sec. 702) Directs the PRC to report to the President and Congress, at least every five years, concerning: (1) the operation of amendments made by this Act; and (2) recommendations for improving U.S. postal laws.
 
(Sec. 703) Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report to the President, Congress, and the PRC identifying Federal and State laws that apply differently to the Postal Service with respect to the competitive category of mail and private companies providing similar products.
 
(Sec. 704) Directs the Board of Governors to report to the President and Congress concerning women and minority representation in Postal Service supervisory and management positions.
 
(Sec. 705) Directs the Postal Service to: (1) develop, and be prepared to implement, a plan for providing reemployment assistance to displaced employees; and (2) submit to Congress and the Board of Governors a written report describing such plan.
 
(Sec. 706) Directs the Board of Governors to report to the President and Congress on the number and value of Postal service contracts and subcontracts with women, minorities, and small businesses.
 
(Sec. 707) Directs the Postal Service to report to the President and Congress on information used in determining postal costs attributable to periodicals, as well as improvements in their collection, handling, transportation, and delivery.
 
(Sec. 708) Directs the Postal Service Inspector General to report to the President, Congress, and Postal Service on the process by which postal rate assessments are determined and appealed.
 
(Sec. 709) Directs the Postal Service to report to the President, Congress, and Board of Governors on the postal processing and distribution network.
 
(Sec. 710) Requires a two-year independent study to assess the costs, benefits, effects, and future strategies for maintaining the Postal Service as wholly part of the Executive Branch, or transforming it into a private corporation in whole or in part. 
 
(Sec. 711) Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study proposals as put forth in sections 805 and 807 of this Act as introduced, that would move to a market-based rate system for the carriage of international mail.
 
(Sec. 712) Defines Board of Governors for purposes of this title.
 

Title VIII: Miscellaneous; Technical and Conforming Amendments - 
(Sec. 801) Makes permanent (currently, only for the current fiscal year) Postal Service authority to employ postal police officers to protect postal property and persons on such property.
 
(Sec. 802) Considers an appeal to the PRC of a post office closing as timely if postmarked within 30 days after notification of such closure.
 
(Sec. 803) Ensures the continuity of benefits through the Postal Service for employees of the former Post Office Department.
 
(Sec. 804) Repeals obsolete Federal postal laws. Eliminates the four-year limit on postal transportation contracts.
 
(Sec. 805) Prohibits the use of Postal Service Fund amounts to invest in commercial obligations or securities.
 
(Sec. 806) Reduces postal rates for &quot;within county publications&quot; (such as local newspapers or weeklies).
 
(Sec. 807) Provides prohibitions and penalties for the illegal use of the mails to transport hazardous matter. Requires opportunity for a violation hearing before the Postal Service.
 
(Sec. 808) Directs the PRC to examine the Domestic Mail Manual to determine whether it contains adequate safeguards to protect against: (1) abuses of rates for nonprofit mail; and (2) deception of consumers.
 

Title IX: Postal Pension Funding Reform Amendments - 
(Sec. 901) Transfers from the Postal Service to the Treasury Department responsibility for paying retirement costs of former postal employees that are related to military service. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), because of such change, to determine necessary adjustments in Postal Service contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System. Makes any OPM changes subject to PRC review.
 
(Sec. 902) 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 postal retirees. Requires the Postal Service, beginning in 2006, to make payments to such Fund equal to the unfunded liability attributable to current employees, along with interest thereon. Directs OPM to compute the required prefunding and interest payments. Subjects OPM computations to PRC review.
 
(Sec. 903) Repeals a provision of the Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act related to the disposition of savings accruing to the Postal Service.
 
(Sec. 904) Requires specified OPM calculations, for FY2006-2015, with respect to Postal Service savings achieved as the result of funding changes made under sections 901 and 902, above. Directs that such savings be used to address the Postal Service's prefunding of retiree health benefits and to pay down Postal Service debt. Limits to $3 billion the amount authorized to be used to reduce debt over such fiscal years. Requires a calculation results report from OPM to the Postal Service, the PRC, and Congress.

action_date: 2006-02-09
text: 
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act - 
Title I: Definitions; Postal Services - 
(Sec. 101) Amends federal postal law to add definitions, including the terms postal service, competitive product, market-dominant product, and rates.
 
(Sec. 102) Prohibits requiring the Postal Service to provide any special nonpostal or similar services.
 

Title II: Modern Rate Regulation - 
(Sec. 201) Directs the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) (established by this Act) to establish a modern system for regulating rates and classes for market-dominant products (all first-class mail, parcels, and cards, periodicals, standard mail, single-piece parcel post, media mail, bound printed matter, library mail, special services, and single-piece international mail). Requires the system to, among other things: (1) include an annual limitation on the percentage changes in rates; and (2) require the Postal Service to provide public notice, and the PRC to provide an opportunity for review of, rate adjustments at least 45 days before implementation. Requires the PRC, as part of the regulations, to establish rules for workshare discounts (discounts provided to mailers for presorting, barcoding, etc.) to ensure that such discounts do not exceed the cost that the Postal Service avoids as a result of workshare activity (with exceptions). Requires the Postal Service to notify the PRC whenever it establishes or revises a workshare discount rate.
 
(Sec. 202) Directs the Postal Service Board of Governors to establish rates and classes for products in the competitive category of mail (priority and expedited mail, bulk parcel post and international mail, and mailgrams).
 
Directs the PRC to promulgate (and from time to time revise) regulations to: (1) prohibit the subsidization of competitive products by market-dominant products; (2) ensure that each competitive product covers its attributable costs; and (3) ensure that all competitive products collectively cover their share of Postal Service institutional costs.
 
(Sec. 203) Authorizes the Postal Service, under specified terms and conditions, to conduct market tests of experimental products, requiring PRC notification of the nature and scope of each test. Prohibits a market test from exceeding 24 months, but allows the PRC to extend such period for up to 12 additional months.
 
Authorizes the PRC, following specified criteria, to change the lists of market-dominant products and competitive products by adding or removing products, or transferring products between lists. Prohibits the transfer from the market-dominant category of products covered by the postal monopoly. Requires the Postal Service to notify the PRC whenever it requests to add a product or to transfer a product to a different category. Prohibits a product that involves the carriage of letters, printed matter, or packages from being offered by the Postal Service unless it has been assigned to the market-dominant or competitive category of mail.
 
(Sec. 204) Requires the PRC to report annually to the President and Congress on PRC operations under this title.
 
Requires annual reports from the Postal Service to the PRC which: (1) analyze Postal Service costs, revenues, and rates; and (2) provide product information and measures of service afforded by the Postal Service in connection with such product. Requires such report information to: (1) be audited by the Postal Service Inspector General before submittal; and (2) include information relating to workshare discounts. Requires the PRC, after receiving such reports, to make annual determinations of Postal Service compliance with regulatory requirements.
 
(Sec. 205) Repeals current provisions concerning postal service and rate complaints procedures and an annual report on international services provided by the Postal Service. Establishes new complaint procedures which require the PRC to begin proceedings on, or dismiss, complaints within 90 days, and treating as dismissed complaints not acted on within such period. Authorizes the PRC to: (1) order the Postal Service to take appropriate action to achieve compliance; and (2) order fines in cases of deliberate noncompliance. Authorizes appellate review by persons adversely affected by any PRC final order or decision.
 

Title III: Modern Service Standards - 
(Sec. 301) Directs the Postal Service to establish (and from time to time revise) a set of service standards for market-dominant products consistent with the Postal Service's universal service obligation in order to: (1) enhance the value of postal services to both senders and recipients; (2) preserve regular and effective access to postal services in all communities; (3) reasonably assure Postal Service customers delivery reliability, speed, and frequency; and (4) provide a system of objective external performance measurements for each market-dominant product. Requires the Postal Service to develop and submit to Congress a plan for meeting such standards. Directs the Postal Service to report annually to Congress on how postal decisions have impacted or will impact rationalization plans. Requires the plan to include: (1) plans to expand and market retail access to postal services through the use of vending machines, the Internet, etc.; and (2) plans for reemployment assistance and early retirement benefits for Postal Service employees displaced as a result of the automation of functions or the closing or consolidation of facilities. Requires a plan report from the Postal Service Inspector General before its submission to Congress.
 

Title IV: Provisions Relating to Fair Competition - 
(Sec. 401) Establishes in the Treasury a revolving Postal Service Competitive Products Fund to be available to the Postal Service without fiscal year limitation for the payment of: (1) costs attributable to competitive products; and (2) all other costs incurred by the Postal Service, to the extent allocable to competitive products. Provides for deposits into, and administration of, the Fund. Requires reports from the Postal Service to the Secretary of the Treasury and the PRC with respect to Fund administration and uses.
 
(Sec. 402) Requires the Postal Service to: (1) compute its assumed federal income tax (which would be the taxable income of a corporation) on competitive products income for each year; and (2) transfer from the above Fund to the Postal Service Fund the amount of the assumed tax.
 
(Sec. 403) Prohibits the Postal Service from: (1) establishing anti-competitive rules or regulations; (2) compelling the disclosure, transfer, or licensing of intellectual property to any third party; or (3) obtaining information from a person that provides any product, and then offering any postal service that uses or is based in whole or in part on such information, without the person's consent.
 
(Sec. 404) Subjects all Postal Service: (1) activities to federal laws prohibiting the conduct of business in a fraudulent manner; and (2) conduct with respect to competitive products to federal antitrust laws and unfair competition standards. Eliminates Postal Service sovereign immunity protection. Makes the Postal Service a &quot;person,&quot; for purposes of federal bankruptcy laws, to the extent that it engages in conduct related to the provision of competitive products. Requires the Postal Service to: (1) consider local zoning or land use regulations and building codes when constructing or altering buildings; and (2) represent itself in most legal proceedings (currently, representation is provided through the Department of Justice).
 
 (Sec. 405) Makes the Secretary of State responsible for foreign policy related to international postal services. Provides for the application of customs laws with respect to such services.
 

Title V: General Provisions - 
(Sec. 501) Revises qualification requirements with respect to members of the Postal Service Board of Governors. Requires the President to consult with specified congressional leaders in selecting individuals for Board nomination. Reduces from nine to seven years the term of appointment.
 
(Sec. 502) Maintains the annual $3 billion cap on Postal Service borrowing for capital investments and operating expenses, while eliminating individual caps on each.
 
(Sec. 503) Revises provisions concerning the private carriage of letters (letters carried outside of normal mail service by a private carrier) to allow such private carriage in three new circumstances: (1) when the amount paid to a private carrier is at least six times the rate then currently charged for the first ounce of a single-piece first-class letter; (2) when the letter weighs at least 12 and a half ounces; and (3) when private carriage is within the scope of current Postal Service regulations that permit private carriage by suspension of the operation of current law.
 
(Sec. 505) Requires a party wishing to terminate a collective bargaining agreement involving Postal Service employees to serve written notice to any other party to such agreement at least 90 days in advance. Provides that if all such parties fail to reach a new agreement, the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service shall within 10 days appoint a national mediator who is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. Authorizes the use of arbitration boards in certain circumstances. States that nothing in this Act shall restrict, expand, or otherwise affect any rights, privileges, or benefits under collective bargaining agreements.
 
(Sec. 506) Authorizes the Postal Service to establish one or more programs to provide bonuses and other rewards to Postal Service officers and employees. Requires bonus or reward information to be included in currently-required annual Postal Service comprehensive statements.
 

Title VI: Enhanced Regulatory Commission - 
(Sec. 601) Replaces the Postal Rate Commission with the PRC. Sets forth the term (six years) and qualifications of the five Commissioners.
 
Requires the PRC to designate a PRC officer to represent the public interest in all public proceedings of the PRC.
 
(Sec. 602) Provides PRC authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, receive evidence, issue subpoenas, and order the taking of depositions and responses to written interrogatories.
 
(Sec. 603) Authorizes appropriations out of the Postal Service Fund for: (1) the PRC; and (2) the Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Repeals federal provisions which subject the annual PRC budget to disapproval by the Board of Governors.
 
(Sec. 605) Mandates that the Postal Service: (1) be subject to a high degree of financial transparency to ensure fair treatment of customers of the Postal Service's market-dominant products and companies competing with the Postal Service's competitive products; and (2) file with the PRC certain audit and funding reports required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
 

Title VII: Evaluations - 
(Sec. 701) Requires a report from the PRC to the President and Congress, at least every five years, concerning: (1) the operation of amendments made by this Act; and (2) recommendations for improving the effectiveness or efficiency of U.S. postal laws.
 
(Sec. 702) Requires a report from the PRC to the President and Congress on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in the United States, including the monopoly on the delivery of mail and access to mailboxes.
 
(Sec. 703) Requires a report from the Federal Trade Commission to the President, Congress, and the PRC identifying federal and state laws that apply differently to the Postal Service with respect to the competitive category of mail and similar products provided by private companies.
 
(Sec. 704) Requires a report from the Postal Service Inspector General to Congress and the Postal Service on improving workplace safety and reducing workplace-related injuries nationwide. Directs the Postal Service, after receiving such report, to submit to Congress its plans for achieving such goals.
 
(Sec. 705) Directs the Government Accountability Office to study, and report to Congress, the Board of Governors, and the PRC on: (1) establishing rate incentives for mailers who utilize recycled paper; and (2) Postal Service accomplishments involving recycling activities.
 

Title VIII: Postal Service Retirement and Health Benefits Funding - 
Postal Civil Service Retirement and Health Benefits Funding Amendments of 2004 - (Sec. 802) Transfers from the Postal Service to the Treasury Department responsibility for paying the retirement costs of former postal employees that are related to military service. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), because of such change, to determine necessary adjustments in Postal Service contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System. Makes OPM adjustment determinations subject to PRC review.
 
(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.
 
(Sec. 804) Repeals a provision of the Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act related to the disposition of savings accruing to the Postal Service.
 

Title IX: Compensation for Work Injuries - 
(Sec. 901) Makes a Postal Service employee ineligible for compensation or continuation of pay for the first three days of temporary disability (thereby establishing a three-day waiting period). Allows the employee to use annual leave, sick leave, or leave without pay for such three-day period, but provides that if the disability exceeds 14 days or is followed by permanent disability, the employee may have such leave reinstated or receive pay for the time spent on leave without pay.
 
(Sec. 902) Converts Postal Service employee total or partial disability compensation benefits to 50 percent of the monthly pay of the employee on the later of: (1) the date on which the injured employee reaches retirement age; or (2) one year after the employee begins receiving compensation.
 

Title X: Miscellaneous - 
(Sec. 1001) Authorizes the Postal Service to employ guards for all buildings and areas owned, occupied, or under the charge or control of the Postal Service, and to give such guards, while so employed, any of the powers of federal special police.
 
(Sec. 1002) Repeals federal postal law concerning the transportation of mail by surface carrier. Eliminates restrictions on the length of Postal Service mail transportation contracts.
 
(Sec. 1003) Provides for reduced-rate treatment of some forms of mail, including: (1) mail given preferred status over regular-rate mailings; and (2) copies of a publication published within a county but distributed outside such county on postal carrier routes originating in the county of publication.
 
(Sec. 1004) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Postal Service should: (1) ensure the fair and consistent treatment of suppliers and contractors in its current purchasing policies and any revision or replacement of such policies; and (2) implement commercial best practices in Postal Service purchasing policies to achieve greater efficiency and cost savings, as recommended in July 2003 by the President's Commission on the United States Postal Service, in a manner compatible with the fair and consistent treatment of suppliers and contractors.
 
(Sec. 1005) Amends the Rural Service Improvement Act of 2002 concerning Alaskan bypass mail service to revise: (1) the definitions of &quot;bush carrier,&quot; &quot;bush passenger carrier,&quot; &quot;bush route,&quot; &quot;composite rate,&quot; &quot;mainline carrier,&quot; &quot;new&quot; (when referencing a carrier), &quot;121 mainline carrier,&quot; and &quot;135 bush passenger carrier&quot;; and (2) provisions concerning passenger service, the carriage of nonpriority bypass mail, and equitable tender.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-02-10
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2006-02-09
text: Senate insists on its amendment, asks for a conference, appoints conferees Collins; Stevens; Voinovich; Coleman; Bennett; Lieberman; Akaka; Carper.
action_date: 2006-02-09
text: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S928-942)
action_date: 2006-02-09
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text: CR S928-942)
action_date: 2006-02-09
text: Senate struck all after the Enacting Clause and substituted the language of S. 662 amended.
action_date: 2006-02-09
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S927-942)
action_date: 2005-07-27
text: Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 176.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 410 - 20 (Roll no. 430).
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 410 - 20 (Roll no. 430).
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: The House adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule. (consideration: CR H6548)
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 22.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: UNFINISHED BUSINESS - The Chair announced that the unfinished business was the question of adoption of amendments which had been debated earlier and on which further proceedings had been postponed.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 380, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Hensarling amendment.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Flake amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mr. Flake demanded a recorded vote and pursuant to the rule, the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 380, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Flake amendment.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Pence amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mr. Pence demanded a recorded vote and pursuant to the rule, the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 380, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20 minutes of debate on the Pence amendment.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 22.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: The Speaker designated the Honorable Michael K. Simpson to act as Chairman of the Committee.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 380 and Rule XVIII.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 22 with 1 hour of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order.
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 380. (consideration: CR H6511-6549; text of measure as reported in House: CR H6522-6538)
action_date: 2005-07-26
text: Rule H. Res. 380 passed House.
action_date: 2005-07-25
text: Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 380 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 22 with 1 hour of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order.
action_date: 2005-05-27
text: Committee on Judiciary discharged.
action_date: 2005-05-27
text: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 55.
action_date: 2005-05-27
text: Committee on Judiciary discharged.
action_date: 2005-04-28
text: Referred sequentially to the House Committee on the Judiciary for a period ending not later than May 27, 2005 for consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(l), rule X.
action_date: 2005-04-28
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on 109-66, Part I.
action_date: 2005-04-28
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on 109-66, Part I.
action_date: 2005-04-13
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 39 - 0.
action_date: 2005-04-13
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2005-01-04
text: Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.
action_date: 2005-01-04
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2005-01-04
text: Introduced in House