[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE'S CSRS OBLIGATION MODIFICATION ACT OF 2010

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                         HON. STEPHEN F. LYNCH

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 2010

  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, the United States Postal Service's CSRS 
Obligation Modification Act of 2010, is intended to remedy a unfair and 
inequitable methodology for allocating the Postal Service's share of 
Civil Service Retirement System, CSRS, retirement benefit liabilities 
for employees that provided service to this country under both the Post 
Office Department and the independent United States Postal Service.
  According to a January 2010 report by the United States Postal 
Service's Office of Inspector General, USPS-OIG, the Postal Service 
paid more into the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Trust Fund 
that it would have paid if a more equitable methodology were used to 
allocate CSRS retirement benefit liabilities between the Federal 
government and the United States Postal Service.
  As a result of the USPS-OIG report's findings, the Postmaster General 
of the United States Postal Service submitted a request, in accordance 
with section 802(c) of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, 
to the Postal Regulatory Commission, PRC, calling for an independent 
and objective review of the methods used to allocate benefit 
liabilities between the Postal Service and the Federal government under 
generally accepted actuarial practices and principles.
  The independent actuarial firm hired by the PRC, The Segal Company, 
determined that the current methodology used by the Office of Personnel 
Management, OPM, for allocating such retirement benefits between the 
United States Postal Service and the Federal government follows an 
antiquated methodology that fails to incorporate current actuarial best 
practices and accounting standards as recognized and codified by the 
Financial Accounting Standard Board.
  Accordingly, to remedy this unjust treatment, this legislation I am 
introducing today directs OPM to update and modernize the actuarial 
methodology to be used in allocating CSRS retirement benefit 
liabilities between the United States Postal Service and the Federal 
government in accordance with The Segal Company's recommendation. Under 
this approach, the Federal government's portion of an individual's CSRS 
annuity will be based on the CSRS benefit accrual formula and the 
conventional individual's ``high-3'' average salary. By utilizing this 
methodology, this legislation will ensure that OPM is using modern 
actuarial practices and accounting standards to apportion the benefit 
liabilities that are codified by the independent Financial Accounting 
Standard Board under FASB ASC 715.

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