August 5-9, 2024 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
Legislative and Political Affairs
introduced the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act (H.R. 7629/S.4356). In May, Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Since its introduction, the bill has continued to gain bipartisan sup- port, and as this report was going to print had 91 cosponsors in the House. This bill includes three important provisions to deter these crimes from happening. It provides $7 billion over five years ($1.4 billion annually) in fund- ing for the Postal Service to secure its infrastructure, including install- ing high-security collection boxes and replacing items carried by let- ter carriers with more secure elec- tronic versions. It would ensure that every crime committed against a letter carrier is prosecuted by requiring the At- torney General to appoint an assis- tant U.S. attorney in each judicial district to prioritize any case that involves an assault or crime against a letter carrier. It would strengthen and stan- dardize sentencing guidelines for these crimes by ensuring they are treated in the same manner as as- saults on federal law enforcement officers. The health and safety of letter carriers always come first, and this bill is NALC’s top legislative priority. It is imperative that America’s mail is protected and, most importantly, that the letter carriers who deliver it are, too. NALC is committed to using all our power and resources to move this bill through Congress. Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset repeal NALC has remained focused on gaining support and pushing for the passage of the Social Security Fair- ness Act (H.R. 82/S. 597). This bill, led by Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) in the House and Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in
the Senate, would repeal the Wind- fall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The WEP and GPO are parts of Social Security law that unfairly reduce— or sometimes eliminate— the Social Security benefits of public employees, including letter carriers, who have earned pension benefits from public employee pen- sion plans such as the CSRS. Once again, this bill has over- whelming bipartisan support in the House with 322 cosponsors at the time of this writing. There have been two hearings on WEP and GPO repeal held by the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security this Congress. In November, the subcommittee held a field hearing in Louisiana where victims, including a police officer, firefighter, teacher, and retired state employee, testified on how the WEP and GPO have af- fected them. In April, the subcom- mittee held a hearing in Washing- ton, DC, that featured economists, researchers, and Social Security experts. Despite the support and momen- tum around the issue, the bill has yet to receive a committee markup or floor vote. Given the bill’s high price tag, it is unlikely that we will see it considered this Congress. However, the lame duck session, end-of-year funding packages, and more might present new opportuni- ties, and NALC is committed to any means necessary to finally get this bill passed. Federal Retirement Fairness Act The Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 5995) is another ongo- ing legislative priority for NALC. This bill would allow certain fed- eral employees to make catch-up retirement contributions for time spent as non-career employees af- ter Dec. 31, 1988, making it cred- itable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).
40 The Postal Record August 2024 Letter carriers from coast to coast have made their voices heard, and the next step to deter these crimes from happening is federal law. In March, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R- PA) and Greg Landsman (D-OH), Since 2020, there have been more than 2,000 violent assaults and crimes committed against let- ter carriers on the job. In the last year, NALC Headquarters, regions and branches have organized more than 15 rallies nationwide to bring public awareness to this growing problem. sector best practices by diversifying its investment portfolios with stocks and bonds through Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)-style index funds. This sensible and fiscally responsible change would yield greater returns and ultimately reduce the cost of pensions and retiree health ben- efits shouldered by the agency, its employees, and even mailers in the form of rate increases. NALC has had productive conver- sations with Capitol Hill leaders, and we are hopeful about the pros- pect of a legislative solution that would allow the Postal Service to reinvest. Similarly, for more than 50 years, the Postal Service has faced a glaring misallocation of retire- ment fund obligations, which has unfairly saddled the agency with costs that should be the obliga- tion of the federal government. To that end, if our pensions were calculated in accordance with 2006 Postal Accountability and En- hancement Act (PAEA), the Postal Service would see over a $90 bil- lion surplus in pension liabilities. Legally, any surplus in our pension accounts would be directed to the retiree health benefits fund. NALC has continued to engage the cur- rent and previous presidential ad- ministrations on this issue and will continue to evaluate all of our op- tions to finally get a fair pension reallocation for the Postal Service. Protect Our Letter Carriers Act
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