Postal Relief... For Now

No doubt you, too, gave a sigh of relief when you heard the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) won’t raise its rates until fiscal 2006.

Last month, Congress passed — by a stunning margin of 420-0 — a bill that allows the USPS to restructure its payments to employees’ pension plans.

You may remember that last year, USPS officials determined they had overpaid the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) by more than $70 billion. To make the correction, the agency needed congressional approval, which it got in April in an impressive example of bi-partisan support.