ALEXANDRIA, VA --March 26, 2003-- Intense efforts by PIA’s Government Affairs staff over the last few months ended in the Senate and House Government Affairs committees’ approval of legislation to correct overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement System by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The legislation is expected to be considered by the full House and Senate within a month. It could eliminate postal rate increases until 2006 according to the USPS. Analysis by the Printing Industries of America’s (PIA) economic research division indicates that the impact on printers’ revenues over the next three years is in excess of $2 billion. Ben Cooper, PIA’s Executive Vice President for Public Policy stated that PIA legislative staff worked closely with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representative Tom Davis (R-VA) to get these bills passed after an extensive grass roots effort to have printers e-mail their elected officials. The US Postal Service has estimated that without this legislation, postal rate payers would ultimately be forced to overpay $78 billion into the Civil Service Retirement System and acknowledge that, as a result of this effort, postal rates should remain stable until 2006. Dr. Ron Davis, Chief Economist of PIA, stated, “Based on historical relationships between postal rate increases and corresponding decreases in direct mail advertising volumes, these actions could easily save $2 billion in direct mail printing alone through 2006. Additional benefits would accrue to other print sectors that rely on mail delivery, such as magazine printing and envelope printing. This is revenue that would have been severely missed by an industry that is still feeling the impact of the 2001 recession and the events of 9/11. This is a great ‘stimulus package’ for US printers that gives a nice bump to printing shipments and could save thousands of printing jobs.” Harry Duncanson, Vice President of Dyncolor Graphics Miami, Florida and Chair of PIA’s Government Affairs Committees commented, “This is an example of the tremendous return on investment printers receive from their local affiliate and PIA dues. The print revenues that would have been lost without this effort could never have been recovered.” For additional information on the PIA’s postal reform efforts, contact Ben Cooper at 703.519.8115 or [email protected].