{"id":20782,"date":"2020-02-05T22:59:02","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T22:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/05\/house-votes-to-do-away-with-massive-usps-financial-burden\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:44:24","slug":"house-votes-to-do-away-with-massive-usps-financial-burden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2020\/02\/05\/house-votes-to-do-away-with-massive-usps-financial-burden\/","title":{"rendered":"House votes to do away with massive USPS financial burden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The House of Representatives voted Feb. 5 to remove a mandate that the U.S. Postal Service prefund its retiree healthcare, a requirement that has been responsible for significant financial losses<\/a> at the agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis mandate has cost the postal service billions of dollars since it was first imposed 14 years ago. The Postal Service has not made a payment into this fund since 2012,\u201d Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said on the House floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout major structural reforms, the Postal Service will run out of cash in about four years. At that point, it will not be able to pay its own workers and mail delivery would simply cease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USPS has reported consistent losses in recent years<\/a>, most recently a net loss of $8.8 billion for fiscal year 2019. Much of those losses can be attributed to the defaulting on prefunding payments, which amount to about $5 billion per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mandate to prefund retiree health insurance was put in place by Congress in 2006 and is a requirement that has been placed on no other federal agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\t