Commission continues evaluation of Postal Service. (Headlines).

The newly appointed Commission on the United States Postal Service met for the second time in February to focus on a business model for the USPS. In testimony before the commission, Mary Rouvelas, vice president of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, Washington, D.C., offered recommendations on the rate-setting process. ANM previously submitted recommendations on topics such as universal mail delivery, the postal monopoly, the deferred liability crisis, controlling costs, adjustments in service, competition with the private sector, and USPS governance and oversight.

The commission will be conducting three field hearings this spring and summer. The dates and subjects of the hearings are March 18 in Austin, Texas, with a focus on technology; April 4 in Los Angeles with a focus on private sector partnerships; and April 29 in Chicago with a focus on workforce. ANM will be coordinating testimony for nonprofit organizations during those proceedings.

In other postal news, the House and Senate are considering legislation aimed at correcting a flawed retirement funding formula in the USPS. The bills would change the system under which the USPS makes payments into the civil service retirement system on behalf of its employees. If enacted this year, the House and Senate bills would enable the USPS to pay down some of its $11 billion debt and hold mailing rates steady until 2006. Chief sponsors of the bill in the House include House Committee on Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA) and Ranking Member Henry Waxman ED-CA), as well as Reps. John McHugh (R-NY) and Danny Davis (D-IL). Committee on Governmental Affairs Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) sponsored the Senate version of the bill.

For more information on postal issues, visit the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers Web site at www.nonprofitmailers.org.