Tell Congress: Support H.R. 1351

APWU members are encouraged to contact their members of Congress and urge them to support H.R. 1351, an important measure that would restore financial stability to the Postal Service.

This bill, the “USPS Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011,” would correct the overfunding of the Postal Service’s pension accounts, and would allow the cash-strapped agency to use any surplus to meet its retiree health benefits pre-funding obligation.

As of May 5, H.R. 1351 — introduced on April 4 by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) — had 35 co-sponsors. APWU President Cliff Guffey urged locals and state organizations to contact their U.S. representatives and ask them to support this critical measure.

“If your members of Congress are not on the list, please call them and urge them to do so,” Guffey said. “If they have signed onto this measure, thank them for their support.”

H.R. 1351 instructs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to recalculate USPS payments to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) using updated technology. Independent actuarial studies have concluded that as a result of improper funding formulas, the USPS has overpaid CSRS by $50 billion to $75 billion. FERS overpayments are estimated at $6.9 billion.

If any overpayments are found during OPM’s recalculation, any surplus would be transferred to the Postal Service. OPM would also be required to refund the USPS any money it overpaid to its FERS account. The Postal Service could then use this money to meet its pre-funding requirements.

“This bill would help put the Postal Service back on track to fiscal solvency,” Guffey said. “In order to protect the USPS for the future, we need all the help we can get on Capitol Hill.” Contact Your Legislators