THE CHALLENGE OF GOOD LEGISLATIVE EXECUTION

The following is a perspective by postal commentator Gene Del Polito. The views expressed are solely the author's.

Postal Washington is abuzz with news that House and Senate postal reform sponsors soon will seek to move their bills through their respective chambers in the hope of crafting a common postal reform proposal in a House-Senate conference that can be sent to the President for his signature. That's the dream of every legislative sponsor. History has shown, though, that sometimes the dream can turn into a nightmare.

It must be tough to be a member of Congress and hope to heaven that you can deal with the many, many issues (about which you really may know very little) in a way that best meets the needs of the constituents you were elected to serve. Every representative and senator knows when a bill comes up for floor consideration the phones will ring from their congressional colleagues pressing for their support or opposition for the measure in question-- let alone the flood of cards, letters, phone calls, faxes, texts, and emails they're likely to get from constituents (and the rest of the vast lobbying world) imploring support for an outcome they would prefer.

I have no interest in making a Member of Congress' life more challenging than it needs to be, but here are some things I think every member should be asking about any postal reform measure that is brought before them before they slip their voting card into the machine reader.

It has been maintained that the primary challenge the Postal Service now faces is that its costs are significantly greater than its revenues. Consequently, the Postal Service faces the likelihood that its operations will remain in the red. (And this is not a supposition, it's a fact.) Ask yourself if the bill that's before you will do all that needs to be done to correct this imbalance and bring postal costs back in line with realistically anticipated revenues.
 

Several members of Congress have maintained that they are frustrated with having to deal again with a postal issue they thought had been addressed in 2006. They say they do not want to have to come back to the drawing table anytime soon to deal with a postal legislative issue again. Do you feel the same?
 

If the answer is "yes," do your best to ascertain whether the bill that is before you actually will satisfy your desire to get the issue of postal reform over and done with for the foreseeable future.
 

If the answer is "no," and you believe it is reasonable to want just enough of a "fix" to last for the next two years, ask yourself whether the measure you're considering will bring about that short-term "fix."
 

If you believe a short-term fix is sufficient, are you fully aware of what the continuing uncertainty over the viability of the nation's postal system is likely to mean to the decisions businesses make each day as to whether they will continue to rely on mail as a vehicle for conducting business communications and commerce?
 

Businesses prefer certainty to uncertainty. If businesses determine they no longer can safely plan on mail's continuing value as a means of business development, from where will the nation get the revenue needed to sustain a postal system challenged by costs (and an attendant infrastructure) that are greater than universal mail service actually requires?
 

The Postmaster General has maintained that to remain fiscally viable the U.S. Postal Service needs to reduce its infrastructure and operating costs by $20 billion by 2015. If you accept the PMG's estimates, will the bill now before you accomplish cost reductions of that magnitude by 2015?
 

If the answer is "no," then from where will the Postal Service get the revenue it needs to keep its doors open to maintain a reasonable level service and to pay in a timely manner the compensation and benefits that are owed its employees?
 

There are those who have advocated simply raising postal rates to try to cover postal costs. Are you aware that imposing significant postal rate increases will do nothing but hasten the flight of businesses out of the mail and into other venues without doing a thing about actually reducing needless and crippling postal costs?
 

Congress has tried to bring some sense of fiscal rigor to its lawmaking by ensuring that new laws do not needlessly worsen the federal deficit and the burden on taxpayers. Have you checked with CBO to determine whether the measure before you has "scored" favorably or unfavorably as far as the budget and deficit are concerned?

Remember, the principles of a good execution are to follow the commands "ready, aim, fire" in exactly that order. Make sure you're ready and that you've got the right target in sight before you pull the legislative trigger.