Panel says US Postal Services needs more flexibility

The U.S. Postal Service should remain part of

the government but receive more flexibility to change rates and be operated by a corporate-style board of directors, a presidential commission concluded Wednesday.

The President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service,

formed by President Bush to study the agency and make recommendations for its future, is expected to issue a final report by the end of the month.

However, commission members began going through their basic recommendations Wednesday, voting to approve several that could

have a major impact on the future of the postal service.

Any actual changes in the law would have to be made by Congress,

with the president’s approval.

In recommending more flexibility for the agency to change rates,

the commission noted that it currently is severely limited by a process that can take up to a year to raise prices.

“If any business in America had to operate under the

constraints of the rate-setting process, it would be out of business,” said Harry J. Pearce, co-chairman of the commission. Pearce also is chairman of Hughes Electronics Corp.

The commissioners recommended that an independent postal

regulatory board supervise rates and set a maximum rate for mail where the post office has a monopoly, such as first-class mail, but allow postal management the freedom to set prices below that maximum.

The possibility of the post office becoming a wholly private

entity was rejected by the commission, which recommended that it continue to operate as an independent part of the executive branch.

“We did consider and we rejected either complete or partial privatization,” said commission member Richard C. Levin, president

of Yale University.

Other recommendations approved by the commission Wednesday

included:

_The post office should limit its activities to collecting,

sorting and delivering mail.

_The post office should maintain its current mail monopoly and

its sole access to customer mailboxes.

_A commission be set up to recommend post office closings

similar to the system used to close unnecessary military bases. Once closings are recommended, they would become final unless Congress disapproved of them in their entirety within 45 days. (PROFILE (COUNTRY:United States; ISOCOUNTRY3:USA; UNTOP:021; APGROUP:NorthAmerica;) (CAT:Business;) (CAT:Municipal;) (SRC:AP; ST:US;) )

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