Editing United States Postal Service (section)

=== Retirement funding and payment defaults ===
The [[Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act]] of 2006 (PAEA)<ref name="law_text">{{cite web|title=Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-108publ18/pdf/PLAW-108publ18.pdf|access-date=April 26, 2012|date=April 23, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101042354/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-108publ18/pdf/PLAW-108publ18.pdf|archive-date=November 1, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> obligated the USPS to fund the present value of earned retirement obligations (essentially past promises which have not yet come due) within a ten-year time span.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barro |first=Josh |url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2012-08-02/understanding-the-post-office-s-benefits-mess |title=Understanding the Post Office's Benefits Mess |newspaper=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |publisher=Bloomberg View |date=August 2, 2012 |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525184632/http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2012-08-02/understanding-the-post-office-s-benefits-mess |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[U.S. Office of Personnel Management]] (OPM) is the main bureaucratic organization responsible for the human resources aspect of many federal agencies and their employees. The PAEA created the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund (PSRHB) after Congress removed the Postal Service contribution to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).{{clarify|date=December 2021}}<!-- How does this relate to the FERS? Are some former employees on one system and others on another? --> Most other employees that contribute to the CSRS have 7% deducted from their wages. Currently, all new employees{{which|date=December 2021}}<!-- USPS employees? --> contribute into Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) once they become a full-time regular employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c030.pdf|title=CSRS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511195413/http://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c030.pdf|archive-date=May 11, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Running low on cash, in order to continue operations unaffected and continue to meet payroll, the USPS defaulted for the first time on a $5.5 billion retirement benefits payment due August 1, 2012, and a $5.6 billion payment due September 30, 2012.<ref name="npr.org"/>

On September 30, 2014, the USPS failed to make a $5.7&nbsp;billion payment on this debt, the fourth such default.<ref name="auto1"/> In 2017, the USPS defaulted on some of the last lump-sum payments required by the 2006 law, though other payments were also still required.<ref name="govexec.com"/>

Proposals to cancel the funding obligation and plan a new schedule for the debt were introduced in Congress as early as 2016.<ref name="auto2"/> A 2019 bill entitled the "USPS Fairness Act", which would have eliminated the pension funding obligation, passed the House but did not proceed further.<ref name="auto"/> As of March 8, 2022, the [[Postal Service Reform Act of 2022]], which includes a section entitled "USPS Fairness Act" cancelling the obligation, has passed both the House and the Senate;<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maloney |first1=Carolyn B. |title=Text – H.R.3076 – 117th Congress (2021–2022): Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3076/text#toc-HB830A11DFBE64D6BA4B9AF77ABBDBD12 |website=Congress.gov |access-date=March 15, 2022 |date=March 8, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=LeBlanc |first1=Paul |title=What the USPS overhaul bill means for you |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/14/politics/usps-reform-act-explainer/index.html |access-date=March 15, 2022 |work=[[CNN]]|date=March 8, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315004800/https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/14/politics/usps-reform-act-explainer/index.html |archive-date= March 15, 2022 }}</ref> President [[Joe Biden]] signed the bill into law on April 6, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Durkee |first=Alison |title=Biden Signs Postal Service Reform Bill Into Law—Here's What It Means For Your Mail |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/04/06/biden-signs-postal-service-reform-into-law-heres-what-it-means-for-your-mail/ |date=April 6, 2022 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |website=[[Forbes]] |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220406213855/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/04/06/biden-signs-postal-service-reform-into-law-heres-what-it-means-for-your-mail/|archive-date= April 6, 2022 }}</ref>