President to Sign Postal Reform Act on Dec. 20; DMA's Greco, Cerasale to Attend Ceremony

December 19, 2006 — President Bush is scheduled to sign the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (H.R. 6407) into law on Wednesday, Dec. 20 in a White House ceremony. DMA President & CEO John A. Greco, Jr. and Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Jerry Cerasale have been invited to attend the 1:00 p.m. ceremony.

The DMA executives will be joined by members of Congress who worked for nearly 12 years to pass a postal reform measure and send it to the White House, US Postal Service and Postal Rate Commission officials, and other mailing community leaders.

The morning of the bill’s passage, which was Saturday, December 9, DMA hailed H.R. 6407 as a major victory for the millions of businesses, nonprofit organizations, and consumers across the country that rely on the USPS. DMA has been a vocal, active proponent of meaningful postal reform both on and off Capitol Hill since then Postmaster General Marvin Runyon first called on Congress to enact postal reform in a January 1995 speech.

Key Provisions

H.R. 6407 contains all of the elements DMA and other mailing stakeholders have sought over the past several years, including:

· A cap that will tie future postal rate increases to the rate of inflation;

· A tight exigency clause defining the conditions for emergency rate increases;

· The return of the military retirement cost burden (some $27 billion) to the US Treasury; and

· Language supporting the continuation of worksharing agreements.

· The Postal Rate Commission now becomes the Postal Regulatory Commission.

New Law Will Not Halt Rate Case

DMA once again emphasizes that the new law will not halt the current postal rate case that now is pending before the Postal Rate Commission.

"In the long-run, the new law will significantly help marketers when it comes to planning with greater certainty their direct mail and shipping plans and spending," said Jerry Cerasale. "However, as it stands now, DMA does not anticipate that this new law will affect the timing of the current rate case. In other words, we continue to expect that the next round of rate increases will take effect as early as May 2007."

** To access the bill, (H.R. 6407 as “Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House") go to the homepage of the Library of Congress at http://thomas.gov and type in "H.R. 6407."

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