PRINTER'S NO. 1810
No. 190 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY RAYMOND, BARRAR, ADOLPH, BAKER, BUNT, CIVERA, GANNON, HERSHEY, JAMES, LAUGHLIN, McNAUGHTON, MELIO, PESCI, READSHAW, ROSS, RUBLEY, SEYFERT, S. H. SMITH, STABACK, E. Z. TAYLOR, J. TAYLOR AND TULLI, MAY 12, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, MAY 12, 1999
A RESOLUTION 1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to strengthen 2 the oversight power and the authority of the Postal Rate 3 Commission. 4 WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service, an agency of the 5 Federal Government, holds a monopoly on first class mail and 6 certain bulk mail service and generates annual multimillion- 7 dollar surpluses from its services; and 8 WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service has in recent years 9 expanded its activities beyond its core mission of universal 10 mail service to include many competitive and nonpostal-related 11 business products and services, such as consumer goods, 12 telephone calling cards and cellular towers, in direct 13 competition with Pennsylvania private sector enterprises; and 14 WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service has used surplus 15 revenues from universal mail delivery (first class postage) to 16 expand into these competitive and nonpostal activities, with no 17 evidence that these activities benefit the citizens of
1 Pennsylvania by improving regular mail service; and 2 WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service enjoys monopoly 3 advantages in the marketplace over private sector enterprises 4 with its ability to maintain lower prices for competitive 5 products (due to the multimillion-dollar surpluses generated 6 from first class postage) and its ability to set the rates of 7 private sector competitors; and 8 WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service enjoys many 9 marketplace advantages not available to private sector 10 enterprises, including exemption from State and local taxes, 11 parking fees, local zoning ordinances, vehicle use taxes, 12 vehicle licensing fees and other local government regulations, 13 which deprive State and local governments of needed revenue and 14 fees to offset the effect of the United States Postal Service 15 operations on highways, law enforcement and air quality; and 16 WHEREAS, The Postal Rate Commission does not have binding 17 authority over the actions or activities of the United States 18 Postal Service related to setting postal rates, entering new 19 business sectors or using surplus revenues from first class mail 20 to compete with the private sector; therefore be it 21 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 22 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of the 23 United States, particularly the members from the Pennsylvania 24 congressional delegation, to introduce and pass legislation in 25 this session of Congress to strengthen the oversight power and 26 the authority of the Postal Rate Commission, to include: 27 (1) Subpoena power to examine all records and financial 28 data of the United States Postal Service in order to make 29 informed decisions on postal rate increases, pricing actions 30 and product offerings. 19990H0190R1810 - 2 -
1 (2) Jurisdiction and final approval authority on all 2 domestic and international postal rate adjustments. 3 (3) Authority over all nonpostal business endeavors, 4 including all products and services outside the scope of 5 universal mail service; 6 and be it further 7 RESOLVED, That the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue be 8 directed to undertake an analysis to quantify the impact of the 9 lost taxes and fees not being collected by State and local 10 agencies as a result of the United States Postal Service special 11 status and report its findings annually to the House of 12 Representatives of Pennsylvania. E4L82DMS/19990H0190R1810 - 3 -