Policy Resolution LWD-20-43

WHEREAS, under article I, section,8 clause 7 of the United States Constitution the United States Postal Service is a mandated service created in 1792;

WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service does not receive taxpayer funding;

WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service is an independent entity that relies solely on revenue derived from the sale of postal services and products;

WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service and its more than 500,000 employees are at the center of the $1.4 trillion mailing industry, employing a total of 7.5 million Americans;

WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service serves the needs of 157 million business and residential customers at least six days a week, maintains an affordable and universal network, and connects the country’s rural, suburban, and urban communities;

WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service is consistently the highest rated agency of the Federal Government in nonpartisan opinion polls as well as the Nation’s second largest employer of military veterans;

WHEREAS, the U.S. government began requiring the USPS to prepay retiree health-care obligations in 2007, a requirement that its private competitors does not have, and prepaying these benefits has required the postal service to set aside billions every year delaying capital improvement projects and contributing to the losses of the postal service;

WHEREAS, privatization of the United States Postal Service would result in higher prices and reduced services for its customers, especially in rural communities; and

WHEREAS, privatization of the United States Postal Service would jeopardize the booming e-commerce sector and cripple a major part of the Nation’s critical infrastructure.

THEREFORE BE IT  RESOLVED, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) supports federal legislation that ensures the United States Postal Service remains an independent entity of the United States Government and not be subject to privatization;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL supports removing the requirement for the US Postal Service to prepay retiree health obligations and improve its overall the financial footing;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NBCSL supports protecting postal employees health and retirement benefits, and that no change to prepaying these benefits should change the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that these benefits be available to past, current, and future postal employees who are entitled to full benefits for this difficult job; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution is transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

• SPONSOR: Senator Ronald L. Rice (NJ)
  
• Committee of Jurisdiction: Labor and Workforce Development Policy Committee
  
• Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Senator Ronald L. Rice (NJ)
  
• Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 6, 2019
  
• Ratification is certified by: Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (SC), President