NAPFE NEWSLETTER JAN/FEB
2001
house to drop postal service subcommittee
House Government Reform Committee Chairman, Dan Burton, R-Ind., has decided to get rid of the Postal Service Subcommittee. Legislation related to the Postal Service will now be handled in full Committee where the plan is to pursue postal modernization and reform. It is expected that former Postal Subcommittee Chair, John McHugh, R-NY, will work closely with Chairman Burton to continue his work on postal reform legislation.
fed-ex makes inroads into the postal service
On January 10, 2001, the Postal Service and Federal Express announced a partnership in which the Postal Service will pay Fed-Ex to carry Express, Priority and some first class mail. The deal will cost the Postal Service $6.3 billion over seven years. In a separate agreement, Fed-Ex will pay the Postal Service between $126 and $232 million for the right to place its drop boxes at post offices. This deal is non-exclusive and other carriers will have the right to make pick-ups from post offices. Congress is already calling on the Justice Department to scrutinize the deal to determine whether the deal complies with anti-trust laws.
The General Accounting Office has placed the Federal Personnel system on its “high risk” list after finding it particularly vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse. The new Director of the Office of Management and Budget will have to evaluate how to address a system where approximately half of federal workforce will be eligible for retirement or early out in five years. In the meantime, the White House has imposed a temporary hiring freeze and has asked agencies to submit a plan for cutting management.
postal service changes its projections on anticipated loses
The Postal Service now predicts that losses in 2001 could be as great as $1.2 billion. The Postal Service is experiencing increased fuel cost and increased number of addresses receiving deliveries while first-class mail revenue is barely increasing and mail volume is being diverted to electronic mail and electronic bill paying. The Postal Service is also attributing projected losses to increased labor costs. The estimated loss figures are fueling calls for reform, not the least of which is privatization.
bush pushes tax plan
President Bush is aggressively pushing an across-the-board income tax plan that by its very nature favors wealthier Americans who pay the majority of income taxes. The Plan would reduce all tax brackets and creates a new bracket of 10 percent tax on thee first $6,000 for individuals and $12,000 for couples. According to the Washington Post, the Middle Class are more affected by payroll taxes such as Social Security and Medicare, which are not part of Bush’s tax plan. Some believe that payroll taxes rather than income taxes should be reduced, because for 80 percent of Americans, these taxes are greater than income taxes.
federal family health coverage act of 2001
Representative Eliot Engel, D-NY, has proposed the Federal Family Health Coverage Act to assist federal employees who provide at least half of their parents’ yearly support. This would be done by amending the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan to cover parents who are not eligible for Medicare or otherwise have inadequate health benefits. The Program would be funded by an additional employee premium to cover dependent parent’s health care.