Categorized | Government, News

Akaka introduces Postal Investment Act

MEDIA RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, introduced the Postal Investment Act of 2011, which contains several new proposals to strengthen the United States Postal Service through investment and innovation.

“I believe that more can be done to help the Postal Service regain its footing and invest in its future, which is why I am introducing the Postal Investment Act,” said Senator Akaka. “My bill puts forward several new ideas that should be included in any discussion of comprehensive legislation to reform the Postal Service. The Postal Investment Act would provide important savings and create new revenue opportunities for the Postal Service.”

Key provisions include:

  • Allowing investment of the retirement health benefit prefunding account in a mix of government and non-government securities. The long investment time horizon and significant size of the fund, which now stands at $40 billion, substantially reduce investment risks and provide an opportunity for the fund to grow at a much higher rate.
  • Suspending the $5 billion annual prefunding payment in any year in which the Postal Service does not have revenues sufficient to make a payment.
  • Creating a framework for product innovation through performance incentives, new classes of mail, and an expansion of experimental products.
  • Designating a Chief Product Innovation Officer to lead development of new products and improvement of existing products who would also provide more transparency by additional reporting.
  • Improving collection of postage due through increased compliance and investigations of fraud by the Postal Service, Inspector General, and Postal Inspection Service.
  • Returning overpayments by the Postal Service to the Federal Employee Retirement System to be used for the voluntary retirement buyouts of current employees.
  • Strengthening workforce relations through clarifications on bargaining and consultation rights and assurance of a fair system during any future reductions in force.
  • Reforming executive compensation by tying top postal executives’ salaries to the system used to compensate other high-ranking Federal government officials.

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