House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) introduced legislation on Thursday that would prevent a lower cost-of-living adjustment for military retirees by using savings from a modified U.S. Postal Service delivery schedule to offset the cost.
The Bipartisan Budget Act included a provision that reduced the COLA adjustment for working-age military retirees to one percentage point below the rate of inflation. The pension cuts are intended to save $6.2 billion over 10 years.
An unfunded mandate in annual appropriations legislation requires USPS to deliver paper mail six days a week. The postmaster general said USPS would modify its current schedule by reducing paper mail delivery to five days a week if the mandate were lifted.
Packages would continue to be delivered six days a week. Express and priority mail would not be affected, and post offices would remain open on Saturdays.
“This legislation will restore cost-of-living adjustments for our military retirees and not only replace the savings, but nearly triple them – saving $17 billion over 10 years, according to conservative USPS estimates,” Issa said. “This commonsense reform will help restore the cash-strapped postal service to long-term solvency and is supported by the president and key congressional leaders in both chambers.”