Editor,
The United States Postal Service reported an operating profit of $600 million for the just-completed 2013 fiscal year – without a dime of taxpayer money. The postal service earns its revenue by selling stamps. This shows that the postal service is positioned for a strong comeback if lawmakers act sensibly by addressing the pre-funding fiasco they created and by freeing the postal service to use its universal retail and delivery networks to innovate and grow.
The postal service saw dramatic growth in several key areas over the last fiscal year, including operating revenue, package delivery and standard mail, and worker productivity is at a record high. As the economy gradually improves, postal finances are improving.
The postal service, which provides Americans and their businesses with the industrial world’s most affordable delivery network, is headed in the right direction. Yet, the pre-funding mandate continues to drag it down.
In 2006, Congress mandated that the postal service pre-fund future retiree healthcare for the next 75 years and pay for it in a 10-year period. This annual $5.5 billion charge accounts for more than 80 percent of all the postal red ink you hear about – and 100 percent in 2013. No other agency or company is required to pre-fund for even one year.
Rather than cut services that American homes and businesses rely on such as Saturday and door-to-door delivery, Congress should eliminate the manufactured pre-funding crisis. Lawmakers who advocate a slash-and-shrink approach would destroy an agency that is older than the country itself, is rooted in the Constitution, supports 7.5 million private-sector jobs and is critical to our economy.
Please tell your representative to preserve the postal service by ending pre-funding. Congress created this crisis and Congress can fix it.
Ronnie Roush
Letter Carrier, 46240