Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is sponsoring a bill that would, among other things, return roughly $11 billion to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). According to Collins, the $11 billion is equal to the amount of money that USPS has overpaid in pension contributions. By returning this money to USPS, it could offer incentives to employees if they retired. The goal would be to reduce the USPS’ workforce by about 100,000 through these incentives.
The bill would also reform the federal workers’ compensation program. According to Collins, the bill “would bring federal benefits more in line with compensation levels offered under most states’ laws, and encourage more employees who are able to work to return to the workforce.”
Joe Lieberman (I/D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Scott Brown (R-MA) are also sponsoring the bill.