HR 735 · 108th Congress 2003–2005, ended

Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003

Introduced Feb 12, 2003 Originated House Sponsor John M. McHugh R-NY

Latest action · Apr 8, 2003 Laid on the table. See S. 380 for further action.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedFeb 12, 2003
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003 - (Sec. 2) Amends Federal civil service law to revise the statutory formula for funding benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System for U.S. Postal Service employees (according to the model for funding the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS)). Requires: (1) within the computation of the actuarial present value of future benefits, the full value of benefits attributable to military and volunteer service for Postal Service employees first employed after June 30, 1971, and a prorated share of the value of benefits attributable to military and volunteer service for Postal Service employees first employed before July 1, 1971; and (2) amortization schedules for liquidation of Postal supplemental pension benefit liability set with interest computed at the rate used in the most recent dynamic actuarial valuation of the Civil Service Retirement System.

(Sec. 3) Requires that savings accruing to the Postal Service and attributable to FY 2003 and 2004 be used to reduce the postal debt.

Prohibits the Postal Service from incurring additional debt to offset the use of the savings to reduce the postal debt in FY 2003 and 2004.

Requires that: (1) savings attributable to FY 2005 be used to continue holding postage rates unchanged and to reduce the postal debt; and (2) savings attributable to any fiscal year after FY 2005 be considered Postal Service operating expenses and, until otherwise provided for by law, be held in escrow and not be obligated or expended.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the savings accruing to the Postal Service as a result of the enactment of this Act will be sufficient to allow the Postal Service to fulfill its commitment to hold postage rates unchanged until at least 2006; (2) because the Postal Service still faces substantial obligations related to postretirement health benefits for its current and former employees, some portion of those savings should be used to address the unfunded obligations; and (3) none of the savings should be used to pay bonuses to Postal Service executives.

Directs the Postal Service to submit to the President and Congress its proposal detailing how any savings accruing to it as a result of the enactment of this Act, which are attributable to any fiscal year after FY 2005, should be expended. Requires the General Accounting Office to evaluate such proposal for specified congressional committees, and Congress, after receiving both proposal and evaluation, to revisit the question of how the savings should be used.

Requires the Postmaster General to report to Congress how the Postal Service proposes to use any surplus determined by the Office of Management and Budget as of the end of FY 2025, or any earlier date by which all postal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System will have retired.

Cosponsors 80

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 12, 2003 to Mar 27, 2003; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-IL	Danny K. Davis	Original	Feb 12, 2003
D-CA	Henry A. Waxman	Original	Feb 12, 2003
R-VA	Tom Davis	Original	Feb 12, 2003
D-NY	Carolyn B. Maloney		Feb 25, 2003
D-NY	Edolphus Towns		Feb 25, 2003
D-NY	Steve Israel		Feb 25, 2003
R-AZ	Jim Kolbe		Feb 26, 2003
R-OK	John Sullivan		Feb 27, 2003
R-MI	Candice S. Miller		Mar 4, 2003
R-CT	Christopher Shays		Mar 4, 2003
R-VA	Edward L. Schrock		Mar 4, 2003
D-CA	Ellen O. Tauscher		Mar 4, 2003
R-NY	Jack Quinn		Mar 4, 2003
D-NY	Major R. Owens		Mar 4, 2003
R-IA	Tom Latham		Mar 4, 2003

Show all 80 cosponsors

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Oversight and Government Reform Committee	Referred Feb 12, 2003Markup Mar 6, 2003Reported Mar 27, 2003

Actions 7

Everything that happened, newest first.

Apr 8, 2003Laid on the table. See S. 380 for further action.
Mar 27, 2003Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Government Reform. H. Rept. 108-49.
Mar 27, 2003Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 30.
Mar 6, 2003Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Mar 6, 2003Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Feb 12, 2003Introduced in House
Feb 12, 2003Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.

In the Congressional Record 4

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
House	Amendments H2908	Henry A. Waxman D-CA (amendment)	Apr 8, 2003
House	Debate and remarks H2555Amendments H2587	David Dreier R-CA, Henry A. Waxman D-CA (amendment), Tom Davis R-VA (amendment)	Apr 1, 2003
House	Debate and remarks H2444	David Dreier R-CA	Mar 27, 2003
Extensions	Debate and remarks E229	Henry A. Waxman D-CA	Feb 13, 2003

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Committee report

H. Rept. 108-49

Congressional Budget Office cost estimates 2

Mar 14, 2003H.R. 735, Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003<p>Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Government Reform on March 6, 2003</p>
Mar 14, 2003H.R. 735, Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Government Reform on March 6, 2003

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
Serial No. 108-7	MEMBERS' DAY121 pages	Budget Committee	Mar 6, 2003

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 380	Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003	Related bill	Apr 23, 2003

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, to reform the funding of benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System for employees of the United States Postal Service, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003
Short Titles as Reported to House: Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 2

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Mar 27, 2003Reported in House
Feb 12, 2003Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.