Congress to USPS: OK, We'll Pay Up (Again)

Congress this week provided $29 million in funding to the Treasury Department to satisfy the annual revenue forgone payment to the Postal Service. The funding is contained in the $555 billion omnibus government funding measure and referenced in the Congressional joint explanatory statement on the measure. Were Congress to step away from continuing to provide these funds, it would pose substantial budget implications for the Postal Service.

The Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993 provides for a $29 million annual payment over 42 years to the Postal Service to pay off a $1.2 billion debt Congress created by mandating preferred postage rates to nonprofits and others in the early 1990s.

Postal employee groups urged Congress to make the annual revenue forgone payment, especially after the House earlier this year had refrained from including payment funding in its original appropriation measure.