Legislative Issues Under the Golden Dome Iowa Legislative Update NALC Fact Sheet & Congressional Need for Action The NALC Communications Department would like to help you get the NALC's message out to the public. Few things are more central to our job security and our ability to provide top-flight service to the American public than countering the misleading rhetoric about the Postal Service. We need to inform people, and their elected representatives, of the real story.   Click here for details... Support H.R. 1351 H. Res. 5746 - United States Postal Service's CSRS Obligation Modification Act of 2010 (Bill Text of H. R. 5746) Now is the time for us to act quickly and gather our co-sponsors for the bill. We want to get as many as we can before it goes to full committee, possible as early as next week. When asking your Member of Congress to cosponsor the legislation please make sure to include the major points below: H.R. 5746 will: * Fairly recalculate the USPS surplus in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) using a methodology that uses fairness and equity by using an employee's high three salary when computing the annuity. * Would return assets paid for by RATEPAYER and EMPLOYEE contributions (not TAXPAYER funds) to the Postal Service's sub-account in the CSRS. * Once the accurate "postal surplus" is determined by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency would then have 90 days to write regulations with directions for how and when these funds will be transferred to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund (PSRHBF). * This legislation does NOT repeal or in any way address the legally mandated pre-funding payments into the PSRHBF, it simply fixes the massive over-funding to the Postal CSRS account and transfers it to the PSRHBF. Additional legislation would be necessary to repeal the scheduled pre-funding payments to the PSRHBF in the future. * The date of transfer for the overpayment is less important than the acknowledgment by Congress and the OPM that the USPS has sufficient assets to cover all their retirement obligations; the Postal Service already has $37 billion in its PSRHBF and can access that until which time they would need the transfer to occur. H. Res. 173 - USPS Should Continue 6-Day Mail Delivery (PDF version of House Resolution 173) Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day mail delivery service. Currently the following Iowa Congressman have signed on as Co-Sponsors; Bruce Braley IA-1st, Dave Loebsack IA- 2nd, Leonard Boswell IA-3rd, Tom Latham IA-4th. H.R. 2847 - Jobs for Main Street Act, 2010 Jobs for Main Street "No one needs to tell America’s families that unemployment and underemployment are at crisis levels. We need jobs—and we need them now." OIG: $75 Billion Over-charge for Pension Liabilities In a special report, the USPS Office of Inspector General strengthens the case NALC has made over the past three years that the Office of Personnel Management badly miscalculated the postal surplus in the Civil Service Retirement Fund.     (USPS OIG Web Site) H.R. 1409,  S. 560 Congressmen Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard Boswell and Senator Tom Harkin are currently co-sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act. I urge you to contact Senator Grassley, Congressmen Tom Latham and Steve King and ask them to sign on to this legislation. Employee Free Choice Act Key Facts H.R. 22 I'm proud to announce that as of today, March 10, 2009, Iowa Congressmen Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard Boswell and Tom Latham have signed on as co-sponsors of this important legislation. Congressman Steve King, how about you? H.R.22 - A bill to amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, to allow the United States Postal Service to pay its share of contributions for annuitants' health benefits out of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. President Mark Fallis and Vice-President Jim Beach have been working with State Legislative leaders concerning Vote By Mail legislation. We are happy to announce that Sen. Mike Gronstal and Rep. Pat Murphy both enthusiastically support, and look to take legislation forward in the near future. IPAC Donation Form District Reports ISALC District 1 Liaison Report ISALC District 2 Liaison Report ISALC District 3 Liaison Report ISALC District 4 Liaison Report ISALC District 5 Liaison Report Legislative Contacts US Senate Senator Tom Harkin 731 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-3254 harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm Senator Charles Grassley 135 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-3744 grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm US House of Representatives 1st District Bruce Braley 1727 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-2911 2nd District David Loebsack 1527 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-6576 3rd District Congressman Leonard Boswell 1026 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-3806 rep.boswell.ia03@mail.house.gov 4th District Congressman Tom Latham 2217 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-5476 www.tomlatham.house.gov/ 5th District Congressman Steve King 1131 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-4426 www.house.gov/steveking/