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Tops Our Agenda
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Departments & Divisions Legislative
and Political ArticlesH.R.22
Tops Our Agenda 
Departments & Divisions Legislative
and Political ArticlesH.R.22
Tops Our Agenda Legislative & Political Dept. |
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H.R. 22 Tops Our Hill Agenda
(This article by Legislative & Political Department officers Myke Reid and Steve Albanese first appeared in the May/June 2009 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
On the first day of the 111th Congress, Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) and Rep. Danny K. Davis (DIL) introduced H.R. 22, a bill that would help prevent a financial collapse of the U.S. Postal Service.
The bipartisan legislation would suspend the onerous burden of a provision of the 2006 postal “reform” law that requires the USPS to “pre-fund” 80 percent of future retiree healthcare-benefit costs by 2016. These payments cost the Postal Service approximately $5.5 billion per year, in addition to the $2-3 billion it pays annually for current retiree health benefits.
No other employer — public or private — operates under such a mandate.
H.R. 22 would preserve the pre-funding requirement, but it would permit the Postal Service to immediately pay its share of current retirees’ health insurance payments from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, which currently has approximately $32 billion. Under current law, the fund cannot be used for current retiree premiums until 2016.
The APWU is giving its full support to H.R. 22. If you haven’t already asked your representative on Capitol Hill to support this bill, please do: H.R. 22 is not a bailout, and would not require any expenditure of taxpayer money. While this bill is of interest mainly to postal families, the 111th Congress already has addressed several issues that are important to labor and working families.
For Working Families
Within the first weeks of the new administration President Obama signed into law H.R. 2, introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), which provides health insurance to millions of children otherwise not covered: President Bush vetoed this bill twice during the final months of his term.
On Feb. 17, President Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus package in the hopes of jump-starting the economy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) was passed on party lines; not a single House Republican voted in favor and only three GOP senators supported the measure. This wide-ranging measure touches many segments of the economy.
The law will bring tax relief to 95 percent of working families this year and next. First-time homebuyers will receive a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase of a home, to a maximum of $7,500.
There are a myriad of tax incentives to help create jobs, especially for small businesses. There is also assistance to the states, with funds to improve infrastructure and promote more efficient use of energy. Of course, construction and school-rehabilitation projects will stimulate job growth.
The stimulus act also extends benefits for workers who have lost their jobs and provides further assistance to them through a 65 percent health insurance premium subsidy for the unemployed (and their families) for up to nine months.
Other Key Legislation
H.R. 1686, introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (DMA), would require the Postal Service to bargain with postal unions before engaging in significant subcontracting, and would require the USPS to submit to arbitration if management and the affected unions were unable to reach agreement. The “Mail Network Protection Act” is similar to a bill introduced by Lynch in November 2007.
H.R.658, introduced by Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ),would establish procedures that would make it more difficult for the Postal Service to consolidate or simply close facilities.
H.R. 235, introduced by Rep. Howard Berman (DCA), would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset rules that penalize many CSRS retirees by unfairly limiting their Social Security benefits.
Last — but not least — labor’s No. 1 legislative goal, the Employee Free Choice Act, was re-introduced in the Senate (S. 560) and the House (H.R. 1409) on March 10. The bill would give workers greater freedom to choose to form unions and bargain for a better workplace. We wholeheartedly endorse it, and encourage union members to ask their representatives and senators to sign on as co-sponsors.
To read more about other key legislation that the APWU is supporting, click here.
