Postal Service Reform Act of 2017
Latest action. ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Garrett asked unanimous consentDoing business by universal agreement instead of votes. Most Senate floor action happens this way, which is why a single objecting senator has real power.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 756, a bill originally introduced by former Representative Chaffetz, for purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.
Postal Service Reform Act of 2017
TITLE I--POSTAL SERVICE BENEFITS REFORM
This bill requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish a Postal Service Health Benefits Program within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to offer health benefits plans for U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees, annuitant retirees, and their families at rates that reflect the cost of benefits provided solely to the USPS risk pool. Medicare-eligible postal retirees and family members are automatically enrolled in part A (Hospital Insurance) and part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for Aged and Disabled) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Each plan must provide Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) prescription drug benefits through an employer group waiver plan.
Postal retirees not previously enrolled in Medicare will be transitioned automatically into Medicare part B.
The USPS's annual prefunding payments to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund must be recomputed each year based on economic and actuarial methods to liquidate 100% of the USPS's actuarial liability by September 30, 2055. The bill modifies the prefunding schedule established under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.
The OPM must use postal-specific demographic and economic assumptions in its valuations of the USPS's Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) pension accounts. Under CSRS and FERS, any projected USPS funding surpluses shall be returned to the USPS through amortized annual installments.
TITLE II--POSTAL SERVICE OPERATIONS REFORM
This title reduces from nine to five the number of governors serving on the USPS Board of Governors with the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General. The USPS's power shall be vested in the governors and carried out by the Postmaster General consistent with the strategic direction and pricing and product strategy approved by the governors. The Postmaster General may delegate authority, but the bill removes the board's authority to delegate authority to the Postmaster General.
The USPS must transfer funds to the Department of State to coordinate and negotiate international postal rates and delivery services.
The summary continues for 13 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 31, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 20, 2018: ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Garrett asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 756, a bill originally introduced by former Representative Chaffetz, for purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced it on January 31, 2017, and 23 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 11 Democrats, 12 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 31, 2017, 3556 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3143 days ago, on March 20, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIntroduced, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers