The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 – which proposed updates to retirement health funding and postal obligations – has been approved by the US Senate.
The bill was approved by the House on February 8 and will go to the White House next to be signed into law by President Joe Biden. The act proposes the elimination of the outdated retiree health benefit pre-funding requirements and integrates the retiree health benefit program with Medicare. The bill also formalizes USPS’s obligation to deliver mail and packages six days per week through an integrated delivery network and includes accountability, transparency and reporting requirements.
This legislation was a component of the Delivering for America 10-Year Strategic Plan, which was announced in March 2021. Together with the operational reforms that are also a part of that plan, the Postal Service will be able to achieve its two primary focuses of improved service and financial sustainability.
Louis DeJoy, CEO and Postmaster General of USPS, said, “With the legislative financial reforms achieved today, combined with our own self-led operational reforms, we will be able to self-fund our operations and continue to deliver to 161 million addresses six days per week for many decades to come. I thank the Senate and our Committee leadership that broke the 10-year logjam which has long constrained the finances of the Postal Service. The Postal Service serves every American every day and so it’s only right that our future is now collectively assured by members of all political parties.”