The House of Representatives on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2020, passed the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382), legislation strongly supported and co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th District.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO thanks Congressman Smith for supporting our deserving postal workers, and for his long history of pro-labor votes.
“I was pleased to co-sponsor and vote for this common-sense legislation that will help provide financial stability and smart investment opportunities for the United States Post Office—without any cost to the taxpayer,” Smith said. “This bipartisan measure removes an unfair and outdated mandate on the world’s leading post office and will enable the USPS to budget and target resources like other federal agencies and private businesses.
As passed by the House, H.R. 2382 ends the annual requirement that the United States Postal Service pre-fund retirement health benefits decades in advance. Currently, the USPS is the only federal agency that must pay its future retirees’ health benefits in advance, and this requirement has contributed significantly to the financial crisis in which the USPS now finds itself. By allowing retirement benefits to be paid in a more real time, the legislation helps reduce manufactured deficits faced by the USPS and will enable it to be more nimble with business investments and services.
“Under this new legislation, USPS will be better situated to invest more in advanced equipment, better vehicles and, hopefully, staffing protocols needed to protect the services we rely upon—door-to-door delivery, six-day mail and access in rural areas, just to name a few. I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to move H.R. 2382 as quickly as possible and adopt the bill with the same broad, bipartisan support received in the House.
— Statement courtesy of Rep Chris Smith’s office