Text of the Bill
Full text of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.
Warning - this is not easy to read. One thing we hope to do is advocate bills that most people will be able to understand with a reasonable amount of effort.
Major provisions of the bill...
The Postal Accountabliity and Enhancement Act addressed several aspects of how the USPS could operate, such as what products it can offer and how to notify the public before closing any facilities. It also provided for up to a dozen high-level employees to receive annual salaries of approximately $200,000.
But the most significant impact of this bill was to require the USPS to pre-fund health benefits for employees who would retire during the next 75 years (in other words, for future employees who were not even born yet). And they they had 10 years to do it - amounting to about $5.5 billion a year until 2016. This provision has accounted for virtually the entire USPS operating deficit since being enacted.
How was this bill passed?
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was passed by both houses late on a Friday night.
It was introduced on Dec. 7, 2006.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on Dec 8, 2006 at 10:33 p.m. - after 23 minutes of discussion. There is no record of the vote, as it was passed by a voice vote. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana requested the "yeas and nays", but the request was refused.
The Senate passed the bill about two hours later - also by a voice vote.