After the United States Postal Service reported a net loss of $329 million for its fiscal 2011 first quarter – which ended December 31, 2010 – in early February, the federal government began looking at ways to aid the printing and mailing specialist.
While President Barack Obama's recently proposed 2012 budget didn't contain any indications of raising stamp prices or closing post offices, it did offer the USPS a major concession: $11 billion in relief. This money would prevent the office from running a $7 billion deficit by the end of the fiscal year ending in September and avoid potentially defaulting on its exhaustive line of credit with the U.S. Treasury.
The money would allow the Postal Service to pay $4 billion less toward future retirement benefits. Additionally, Obama's budget would pay the USPS back the approximately $6.9 billion it has overpaid to the federal retirement fund over the next 30 years.
"We're pleased that the Obama administration seems to recognize the seriousness of the Postal Service's financial condition and is proposing beginning steps to address it," Cliff Guffey, president of the American Postal Workers Union, told the Washington Post.
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