Legislation seeking to reform voting rights, campaign finance issues, lobbying and governmental ethics. Of importance to letter carriers is language expanding "vote-by-mail" to the whole country.
Sponsors: Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) & 222 co-sponsors
It calls on Congress to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the U.S.P.S. remain an independent agency of the Federal Government and not be subject to privatization.
Sponsors: Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) & 129 co-sponsors
H.R 1205 deals with the repeal of Windfall Elimination Provisions & Government Pension Offset from the Social Security Act. This would prevent reductions in or elimination of S.S. benefits for affected employees and spouses. Supported by NALC.
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the USPS should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers. Supported by NALC.
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the USPS should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day mail delivery service. Supported by NALC.
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the USPS should take all appropriate measures to restore service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012. Supported by NALC.
Sponsors: Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) & 35 co-sponsors
Legislation that would expand "vote-by-mail" to every state without additional conditions or requirements, except a deadline for returning the ballots.
Legislation that would extend federal employee protections against adverse personnel actions, to ensure that the right to appeal such actiona to the Merit Systems Protection Board, to any employee of the USPS not represented by a bargaining representative.
H.R. 840 would expand the VA Child Care Pilot Program, allowing military veterans to have access to cost-free child care during their VA medical appointments. Nearly one quarter of letter carriers are veterans.
Sponsors: Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) & 22 co-sponsors
H.R. 1057
(Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act of 2017)
H.R. 1057 would apply private-shipper customs rules and regulations to the USPS. This would effectively impose costs and penalties on the Postal Service that could not recovered by levying surcharges (as prohibited by the Universal Postal Union treaty). As is, NALC is urging Congress to fix the flaws in the STOP Act before considering it.
Sponsors: Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-OH) & 272 co-sponsors
H.R. 1254 would bring equality to the way COLA's are made under the CSRS and the FERS. This bill ensures that all retirees would receive the same annual cost of living adjustment.
H.R. 1384 would create a universal, single-payer health program that would replace most current forms of health insurance. NALC is currently reviewing the impact it would have on letter carriers.
H.R. 2517 would provide the Postal Service with the authority to ship beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages from licensed producers and retailers direct to legal consumers.
H.R. 3269 deals with the repeal of the 2012 FERS annuity calculation increases (Public Law 112-96), restoring it to 0.8 percent instead of the 3.1 percent paid by employees hired after 2012 and the 4.4 percent for those hired after 2013. Supported by NALC.
Sponsors: Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) & 30 co-sponsors
H.R. 3257
(Promote Accountability and Government Efficiency (PAGE) Act)
H.R. 3257, the Promote Accountability and Government Efficiency (or PAGE) Act, would define future federal employees as "at-will" employees. Such employees would be subject to the whims of political appointees overseeing federal agencies and could be fired (without notice or right to appeal) for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. This measure would subject pay raises to an arbitrary new formula, deny retirement benefits to anyone under investigation for a felony (including retirees), allow agency heads to demote career executives and reduce their pay without cause, and prevent union representation on the worksite. NALC strongly opposes this legislation and urges letter carriers to contact their representatives regarding this matter.
H.R. 4268 would allow certain federal employees the opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions for time spent as temporary employees after Dec. 31, 1988. The new language will affect casuals, TE's, and CCA's.
Legislation that would expand "vote-by-mail" to every state without additional conditions or requirements, except a deadline for returning the ballots.
S. 99 calls on Congress to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the USPS remain an independent agency of the Federal Government and not be subject to privatization. This represents the second time a bipartisan majority has taken this step.
Sponsors: Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) & 54 co-sponsors
S. 319 would address the VA Child Care Pilot Program, providing access to cost-free child care during VA medical appointments to military veterans. Nearly one quarter of letter carriers are veterans.
Sponsors: Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) & 12 co-sponsors
S. 684
(Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019)
S. 684 would repeal the 40 percent excise tax on certain employer-sponsored health plans. Also known as the "Cadillac Tax", it targets high-cost health insurance plans and adversely affects middle-class health benefits.
Sponsors: Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) & 63 co-sponsors
This would eliminate restrictions on age-based withdrawals, allowing for active federal employees older than 59-1/2 to make multiple age-based withdrawals while still working and for retirees to make multiple, partial post-separation withdrawals. It would also allow participants to stop quarterly or annual payments, permit periodic withdrawals to be changed at any point during the year and save the option to purchase an annuity while recovering monthly benefits.
S. 1302, like its House counterpart, deals with the repeal of Windfall Elimination Provisions & Government Pension Offset from the Social Security Act. This would prevent reductions in or elimination of S.S. benefits for affected employees and spouses. Supported by NALC.