July 31, 2015
FY2015 U.S. Postal Service Appropriations and Budget Request
Overview
reduced mail. This would have been $380,000 below the
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) generates nearly all of its
FY2014 enacted level of $70.751 million.
funding—about $68 billion annually according to the
USPS’s most recent financial report—
The FY2015 enacted level for the Postal Service Fund is
by charging users of
$70.0 million. This is a decrease of $751,000 from the
the mail for the costs of the services it provides. Congress,
enacted level of $70.751 million for FY2014.
however, does provide an annual appropriation—about $70
million—to compensate the USPS for revenue it forgoes in
U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General
providing free mailing privileges to the blind and overseas
voters. In addition, the annual appropriation compensates
For FY2015, the USPSOIG and the President requested
the USPS for debt it accumulated in the 1990s while
$243.883 million be transferred from the Postal Service
providing postal services at below-cost rates to nonprofit
Fund for the USPSOIG. This represented an increase of
organizations.
approximately $2.4 million over the FY2014 enacted
level of $241.468 million.
Congress authorized appropriations for revenue forgone in
The FY2015 enacted appropriations provides $243.883
the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993 (RFRA, P.L.
million (via transfer from the Postal Service Fund) for
103-123, Title VII). Additionally, under the Postal
the USPSOIG. This is the same amount as requested in
Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA, P.L. 109-43),
the President’s budget, and is approximately $2.4
funding for both the USPS Office of Inspector General
million more than the FY2014 enacted level.
(USPSOIG) and the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)
must be provided out of the Postal Service Fund.
Table 1 presents the FY2015 request and the FY2014 and
FY2015 enacted appropriations for the USPS, PRC and
The Postal Service Fund is a revolving fund that
USPSOIG.
consists largely of revenues generated from the sale of
postal products and services. (39 U.S.C. §2003)
Table 1. FY2015 Budget Request and FY2014-FY2015
Appropriations
(millions of dollars)
The PAEA also requires that the USPSOIG and PRC must
submit their budget requests directly to Congress and to the
FY2014
FY2015
FY2015
Office of Management and Budget.
Agency
Enacted
Request
Enacted
Payment to Postal Service
The law further requires that the USPSOIG’s budget be
Fund
treated as a component of the USPS’s budget, while the
$70.751
$70.371
$70.000
PRC’s budget, like the budgets of other independent
(annual appropriations)
regulators, is treated separately.
PRC
$14.152
$15.283
$14.700
Summary of Request and Enacted
(via transfer from Postal
Appropriations: FY2015
Service Fund)
USPSOIG
$241.468
$243.883
$243.883
Postal Regulatory Commission
(via transfer from Postal
For FY2015, the PRC and President requested $15.283
Service Fund)
million be transferred from the Postal Service Fund for
Sources: P.L. 113-235, Title V; The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year
the PRC. This would have been an increase of about $1
2015: Appendix, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget.
million over the FY2014 enacted level of $14.152
million.
The FY2015 enacted appropriations provides $14.700
million (via transfer from the Postal Service Fund) for
the PRC. This is a $548,000 increase from the enacted
level of $14.152 million for FY2014.
Payment to the Postal Service Fund for Revenue
Forgone
For FY2015, the USPS and the President requested
$70.371 million for the Postal Service Fund to
compensate for revenue forgone in providing free and
https://crsreports.congress.gov
FY2015 U.S. Postal Service Appropriations and Budget Request
Postal Policy Provisions
required to make the prefunding payments that it missed
in FY2012 and FY2013.
Both the President’s budget request and the enacted
appropriations for FY2015 contained postal policy
The President’s Budget stated that, “[t]ogether, these
provisions.
reforms would set USPS on a sustainable business path,
providing it with over $20 billion in cash relief, operational
Policy Provisions in the President’s Budget Request
savings and revenue through 2016, and yield an estimated
PAYGO savings of $38 billion over 11 years.”
The Administration proposed extending three long-standing
postal-related appropriations policies:
Policy Provisions in the Postal Service’s FY2015
Enacted Appropriations
free mail for overseas voting and mail for the blind;
prohibition on using appropriated funds to charge a fee
The USPS’s enacted appropriations for FY2015 renewed
to a child support enforcement agency seeking the
the same three long-standing appropriations policies listed
address of a postal customer; and
in the President’s budget request:
prohibition on using appropriated funds to consolidate
free mail for overseas voting and mail for the blind;
or close small rural and other small post offices.
prohibition on using appropriated funds to charge a fee
to a child support enforcement agency seeking the
The Administration also proposed implementing several
operational reforms intended to “reduce Postal costs and
address of a postal customer; and
improve its revenue,” such as moving to five-day delivery
prohibition on using appropriated funds to consolidate
and shifting to centralized and curbside mail delivery,
or close small rural and other small post offices.
where appropriate.
Unlike the President’s budget request, the enacted
Further, the Administration proposed several changes
appropriations also renewed the long-standing provision
related to how the USPS funds retiree benefits. Under
requiring the USPS to continue six-day mail delivery.
current law (PAEA, P.L. 109-43), the USPS must make 10
years of prefunding payments (FY2007 through FY2016)
In addition, the accompanying explanatory statement
into the Retiree Health Benefits Fund (RHBF), a fund
encouraged the USPS to complete additional required
created pursuant to the PAEA to pay for the future retiree
impact analysis and conduct outreach to affected
health benefits of current employees. In the FY2015 budget,
communities prior to moving forward with its plans to
the Administration proposed several changes to how the
consolidate up to 82 mail processing facilities; and
USPS calculates, pays, and prefunds its retiree benefits,
including
directed the Postmaster General to submit a report to the
Appropriations Committee on “steps the United States
requiring the Office of Personnel Management to
recalculate the USPS’s Federal Employee Retirement
Postal Service (USPS) will take in fiscal year 2015 to
System balance using USPS’s specific demographics,
improve postal worker safety.”
rather than governmentwide demographics, and to return
For further information, see
any overpayment to the USPS over a period of two
years;
CRS Report RS21025, The Postal Revenue Forgone
Appropriation: Overview and Current Issues, by Kevin
allowing the USPS to draw upon the RHBF to pay the
R. Kosar;
healthcare insurance premiums for current USPS
retirees. Under current law, the USPS may not use funds
CRS Report R43162, The U.S. Postal Service’s
from the RHBF until FY2017;
Financial Condition: A Primer, by Daniel J.
Richardson; and
providing the USPS temporary financial relief by
reducing the statutorily required prepayments to the
CRS Report R43349, U.S. Postal Service Retiree Health
RHFB for FY2014, FY2015, and FY2016;
Benefits and Pension Funding Issues, by Kirstin B.
restructuring the USPS’s existing RHBF payments
Blom and Katelin P. Isaacs.
schedule beginning in FY2017; and
codifying the missed RHBF payments from FY2012 and Michelle D. Christensen, Analyst in Government
FY2013 (totaling approximately $16.7 billion). If such a
Organization and Management
provision were enacted, the USPS would no longer be
IF10268
https://crsreports.congress.gov
FY2015 U.S. Postal Service Appropriations and Budget Request
Disclaimer
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