SF 3177

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

1.1     A resolution
1.2     memorializing the President, Congress, and the United States Postal Service to 
1.3     maintain current levels of service.
1.4     WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service, founded in 1775, provides dependable, 
1.5     affordable mail service to all Minnesota communities, rich and poor, urban and rural, with 
1.6     uniform postage rates; and  
1.7     WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service remains an important part of the nation's 
1.8     economic infrastructure through which nearly $1 trillion of economic activity is conducted each 
1.9     year and in which 9,000,000 are employed; and  
1.10    WHEREAS, millions of older, disabled, and economically disadvantaged Minnesotans, 
1.11    especially in rural areas, do not have easy access to the Internet or to electronic banking and bill 
1.12    paying and are therefore heavily dependent on the United States Postal Service for communication 
1.13    and the conducting of business transactions; and  
1.14    WHEREAS,  Americans currently enjoy the most extensive postal service at the lowest 
1.15    postage rates of any major industrialized nation in the world; and  
1.16    WHEREAS, excessive below-cost postage discounts to large business and advertising 
1.17    mailers drain billions of dollars in revenue from the United States Postal Service causing small 
1.18    businesses and ordinary citizens to subsidize those discounts through higher postage rates; and  
1.19    WHEREAS, the Commission on the United States Postal Service has recommended 
1.20    changes to postal operations that would sever postal employees from federal employee health, 
1.21    retirement, and workers' compensation programs, and has recommended repeal of laws that would 
2.1     pave the way toward reducing rank-and-file wages and benefits while simultaneously eliminating 
2.2     the current salary cap on executive-level postal positions; and  
2.3     WHEREAS, the commission has recommended a new President-appointed, corporate-style 
2.4     board of directors and a new Postal Regulatory Board and has proposed giving these new 
2.5     politically appointed governing bodies broad authority to set rates without prior approval or 
2.6     review; and  
2.7     WHEREAS, the commission has proposed to refine the scope of the United States Postal 
2.8     Service's "universal service" obligation and uniform rate structure and change and restrict the 
2.9     scope of services currently protected under postal monopoly regulations; and  
2.10    WHEREAS, the new board's broad authority would allow post offices to be closed without 
2.11    community input and prices to be set with a complicated postage rate structure or would turn over 
2.12    postal operations to private for-profit enterprises, despite a recent survey whose respondents had 
2.13    an overwhelmingly favorable view of the United States Postal Service, with 3 out of 4 saying 
2.14    no major changes are needed; and  
2.15    WHEREAS, replacing the United States Postal Service's public service obligation with a 
2.16    profit-seeking mandate would undermine the United States Postal Service's historical "universal 
2.17    service" obligation, weaken its national infrastructure, and divide our nation politically and 
2.18    economically; and  
2.19    WHEREAS, in the interim period prior to legislated postal reform, the United States Postal 
2.20    Service may unilaterally move forward with initiatives to close post offices in Minnesota prior to 
2.21    allowing full input by the affected communities; NOW, THEREFORE,  
2.22    BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota  that it urges the President 
2.23    and the Congress  of the United States and the United States Postal Service to continue to 
2.24    maintain affordable, dependable mail service at current levels because of its social and economic 
2.25    importance to our nation.  
2.26    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of Minnesota opposes 
2.27    any effort to undermine the United States Postal Service's "universal service" obligation and 
2.28    its uniform rate structure.
2.29    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the service hours should be returned to levels before 
2.30    the report of the President's Commission on the United States Postal Service and prior to the 
2.31    implementation of the Small Post Office Reviews and Standardization Program, and that any 
3.1     recommendation from the commission that curtails public services in the current postal service 
3.2     be rejected.
3.3     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of Minnesota goes on 
3.4     record against any changes that would harm the public and workers of the United States Postal 
3.5     Service, including legislated or United States Postal Service initiatives to close or consolidate 
3.6     post offices, take away or modify the collective bargaining system of postal workers, or change 
3.7     the current bargaining system for employee benefits.
3.8     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the  State of Minnesota is 
3.9     directed to prepare copies of this  memorial and transmit them to the President of  the United 
3.10    States, the President and the Secretary of the  United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of 
3.11    the United  States House of Representatives, the Postmaster General of the United States Postal 
3.12    Service, the chair of the Senate  Committee on Budget, the chairs of the House Committees  on 
3.13    Ways and Means, Rules, and Budget, and Minnesota's Senators and  Representatives in Congress.