House Oversight Committee Will Hold Hearing To Examine Financial Viability of the Postal Service

Posted on by postal

The following is a press release from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:

GAO to release report at hearing on Postal Service business model

WASHINGTON – Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) today announced that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on Thursday, April 15, 2010, to examine the status of the Postal Service and recent reports on short and long-term strategies for the financial viability and stability of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The hearing titled: “Continuing to Deliver: An Examination of the Postal Service’s Current Financial Crisis and its Future Viability”. At the hearing, the Committee will examine three recent reports on the future of the Postal Service.

A report released recently by the USPS that studied possible scenarios for the Postal Service in 2020 will be examined. According to the report, under the most likely scenario and without changes to the current system, the Postal Service would continue to experience significant declines in mail volume from its peak in 2006 resulting in a $238 Billion shortfall over ten years. The report called for legislative action to address the shortfall, including allowing a five day delivery.

The Committee will also examine a January 2010 report by the Postal Service Inspector General which concluded that in the past 30 years the Postal Service has made $75 Billion in overpayments related to its Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The study pointed to possible shortcomings in the formulas OPM used in calculating the Postal Service’s CSRS obligations for postal employees who worked before and after July 1, 1971.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will release a report on the Postal Service’s business model at the hearing. GAO will be asked to explain the reasoning behind the report and the impact of its recommendations in reducing the Postal Service’s projected shortfall.

The witnesses invited to testify include:

The Hon. John E. Potter
Postmaster General and CEO
United States Postal Service

Mr. David Williams
Inspector General
United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General

Mr. John Berry
Director
Office of Personnel Management

Mr. Phillip Herr
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues
United States Government Accountability Office

Ms. Ruth Goldway
Chairman
Postal Rate Commission

Mr. Daniel P. Mulhollan
Director
Congressional Research Service

11 thoughts on “House Oversight Committee Will Hold Hearing To Examine Financial Viability of the Postal Service”

  1. I understand the first class rate might go up 2 cents but the forever stamp will still be accepted. However I understand the forever stamp emblem would change to a tree! What is hell is worng with the Liberty Bell or is that too political for us average citizen ????

  2. Hey GAO, according to my USPS employed friends, they say, millions of dollars are being lossed yearly to private business and even government agencies that process their own mailings in house instead of visiting their neighborhood finance office.

    They say that these people are consistently under pricing their mailings, which is costing the PO large sums of money.

  3. START WITH GETTING RID OF PMG POTTER!!! DON’T LET HIM FOOL YOU!!! WE NEED A NEW PMG THAT WANTS TO SAVE THE USPS, NOT DESTROY IT!!!!! WE ALL BELEIVE THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING WITH THE NUMBERS TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE WE ARE WORSE OFF THAN WE REALLY ARE… THEY HAVE ALWAYS CHANGED NUMBERS AND EVERYBODY IN UPPER MANAGEMENT HAS ALWAYS TURNED A BLIND EYE TO MAKE THEIR GOALS… FOR (PFP) PLEASE DON’T ALLOW THEM TO CUT OUR SERVICE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC… MAKE THEM MAKE CUT FROM THE (TOP) UPPER MANAGEMENT!!! WHERE THE USPS IS OVER STAFFED.. INSTEAD OF CUTTING FROM THE BOTTOM (CRAFT) EMPLOYEES WHO DO THE WORK ON THE WORKROOM FLOORS AND ON THE STREET TO GET THE MAIL OUT EACH AND EVERYDAY (6) DAYS A WEEK!!! THE OTHERS ARE JUST FLUNKIES TO MANAGEMENT WHO WILL DO WHAT EVER THEY SAY AND NEVER TOUCH THE MAIL, BUT GET ALL THE PERKS!!! I FEEL LIKE IF YOUR NOT WORKING THE MAIL WHAT DO WE NEED YOU FOR?? WE DON’T NEED AN ASST FOR AN ASST JUST BECAUSE YOU KISS BUTT TO MANY BROWN NOSES IN THE POSTAL SYSTEM!!! LAST TIME I CHECKED THAT WASN’T A BID JOB…

  4. a “lucrative incentive” retirement package: give everyone who’s under 30 years TIS (but within 5 years) a max 5 years TIS to equal 30 years; everyone over 30 years TIS gets $25 thousand. watch the mass exodus!

  5. MORE BS. THEY TAKE MAIL OUT OF ONE PLANT, THEN SEND TO ANOTHER.
    SO PLANT THAT LOSSES MAIL STILL GET OVERTIME. THE PLANT THAT GETS MAIL. OVER 300 PERCENT INCREASE IN OVER TIME. GREAT WORK UPPER
    MANGERMENT

  7. Try the $15 K buyout without the THE 2% PENALTY !!!! for all employees – just think of all the TE,s and PTF,s they could hire to repplace them with…. then they would have what they really want ” A more flexible work force

  8. 4 Steps to saving money.

    1. Make the Grievance Pay-Out budget part of the Supervisor’s budget.
    2. Give the Supervisor a max Grievance Pay-Out limit.
    3. Send Supervisors back to craft for going over budget.
    4 Make Supervisors accountable for their actions

  9. I hope they investigate Potter’s business practices; anyone who has ever worked in the USPS knows how much money is wasted on foolishness. Even with volumes down the PO should be enormously profitable, and it would be if it weren’t run by a bunch of idiots. If Congress asks him to explain some of the holes in his numbers, he’s going to be in trouble. I hope he at least gets fired, and it wouldn’t bother me if they put him in jail. He’s trying to screw the people who made him rich just to maintain his lifestyle and justify his salary, which he clearly does not deserve.

  10. Then they would be able to bring the Post Office back to financial stability and not have to go to five day delivery and layoffs!

Comments are closed.