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March 24, 2021

Postal Transformation Plan Has Democratic Board Support

Plus, let's get real, there doesn't look to be any action
forthcoming on gun violence

 

The Postal Service wants to electrify its fleet of vehicles by 2035.
(Mike Mozart/Creative Commons)

The Chief

Congressional Democrats came out firing against Postmaster General Louis
DeJoy's long-promised 10-year plan to revolutionize the postal
service. "A draconian plan that guarantees the death spiral of the
United States Postal Service," said Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA).
"Unacceptable" and "should not be implemented," offered House Oversight
Committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). "I am not sure how our postal
workers who remain on the frontlines of our national COVID response can
view DeJoy's plans as anything other than a gratuitous slap," said
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA).

The actual mail unions, made up of those postal workers on the front
lines, were gentler. The National Association of Letter Carriers opened
by noting "many positive elements" and ultimately called the plan a
"good starting point," despite "obvious concerns with certain
operational elements." The American Postal Workers Union, the most vocal
about DeJoy and restoration of the postal service mission, took a
halfhearted approach, saying "there are elements of this plan the APWU
will support and there elements of the plan we will oppose."

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The biggest thing to me in the 58-page plan

was the introductory letter, from DeJoy and the chair of the Postal
Service Board of Governors, Democrat Ron Bloom. Him and the other
Democrat on the board, Donald Moak, appear to be fully on board with
these changes, and even if and when three other Democrats join them for
a majority on the board, I'm not sure that firing DeJoy, despite the
abominable performance since he became Postmaster General, is on the
agenda. That's why the postal unions aren't going scorched earth on
this plan, because they know they're going to have to deal with it.
Unless President Biden heeds the call of Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and
others to fire the entire postal board and start anew with someone who
will fire DeJoy, some version of this plan is coming to a post office
near you.

So what does that mean? The goal is to eliminate a projected $160
billion operating deficit over the next 10 years. There are improvements
to the package delivery network alongside degradations to letter
delivery; first-class mail would take longer to reach its intended
target, up to five days in some cases. Rates would almost certainly be
higher, perhaps much higher, for stamps. And there would be shorter
hours ("aligning retail hours to meet customer needs") and consolidation
(closing) of low-traffic branches, stations, and plants.

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The internal network changes seem like an extension of what DeJoy has
already put in place, to disastrous results. More mail would move
through surface transportation than air because USPS controls ground
shipping, which is a bizarre return to the Pony Express era. And I'm
very wary of allowing "pop-up kiosks" for other businesses inside post
offices, essentially renting out valuable public space.

There are more positive changes. There's $40 billion of capital
investment in this plan, including $4 billion to modernize retail post
offices, technology upgrades, and a vow to fully electrify the postal
fleet by 2035. (The plan says it could be done faster with an $8 billion
investment from Congress.) Saturday delivery is maintained. Services to
direct mail and e-commerce businesses will be increased.

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Post offices will become a "storefront for government services" like
passport photos and notary signatures. (There's some very ominous talk
about doing "fingerprint" and "biometric capture" in the plan.)
There's an expansion of P.O. Boxes in certain areas and a move to
street-style addressing, which would allow for package delivery. I had
been hearing rumors that DeJoy might even endorse postal banking in a
bid to save his job, but there's none of that in here. The APWU
statement says they will "continue to advocate" for it.

Finally there are some benefits for workers, although cutting hours and
consolidating facilities will obviously hurt some of them. There's a
commitment to reduce turnover by 50 percent, and to convert thousands of
employees to career status. And there's a role for Congress, to pass
legislation that integrates employees into Medicare and ends the
ridiculous pre-funding requirement that has no precedent anywhere in the
public or private sector. Those two changes alone fill over one-third of
the funding gap, and even more over the long term.

This could have been worse, but unless there's a change of heart on
the Board of Governors, we're probably stuck with some iteration of
this plan, and with DeJoy, someone who can't really be trusted to pull
off even the most optimistic version of this report.

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CRA Update

I haven't said anything about the escalating tragedies of gun violence
recently because I can't see that there's anything to say. The
political system has proven by its inaction a commitment to allow these
scenes of mass death to dot our landscape. Nothing will be done and
I'm not sure the best-case, filibuster-free scenarios of the Democrats
would move the needle that much.

Take as exhibit A our friend and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who took
one of the few bold stands in his political life to co-author commercial
background check legislation with Republican Pat Toomey (R-PA), in a
failed effort in 2013 after the Newtown shooting. This is a pinched
proposal that's unlikely to do much, but the House passed a version
that's maybe half a notch more aggressive last week, by including
private-party transactions, online, and gun show sales. Manchin's
against that
.
Even if you take the filibuster away (which Democrats don't have the
votes for right now), the best you're going to get is the compromise
Manchin-Toomey proposal. An assault weapons or high-capacity magazine
ban? Good luck with that.

Chuck Schumer's going to get everyone on record for this, and Biden
has used his platform to speak out, particularly in favor of the assault
weapons ban. I don't really see any advance on the horizon, though.

What Day of Biden's Presidency Is It?

Day 64.

We Can't Do This Without You

Today I Learned

* Tammy Duckworth's threat to hold up Biden nominees over lack of
Asian American representation didn't last 24 hours
.
(USA Today)

* Biden is loving the praise

he's getting for being bolder than Obama. Results beget results.
(Axios)

* The minimum wage discussions are proceeding almost exactly

as I pictured: a faster path to $11/hour. Let's see how Republicans
react. (Politico)

* Judicial nominations have been slow because Biden's being pressured
to look outside of BigLaw

for candidates. (Slate)

* Biden's quiet climate agenda
.
(Grist)

* Eliminating the SALT cap

would be a terrible idea, and I say that as someone who would benefit
from it. (Bloomberg)

* I wouldn't be so sure about Big Pharma losing a round
,
but if you're looking for a popular pay-for, "cheaper prescription
drugs" would be it. (Politico)

* The burgeoning K Street job market

in people who used to work for people who work for Biden. (Axios)

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