Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nominations of former US Postal Service Inspector General David Williams, who has spoken at two past National Catalog Forums, and former Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan as governors to the USPS. The ACMA has been very active in getting governors nominated and confirmed.
New Governors With Short Terms
The new governors’ terms begin as soon as they are sworn in, which is expected prior to their first USPS Board meeting in mid-September. Both new governors are picking up existing terms, with Mr. Williams’s term scheduled to end on December 8, 2019; and Mr. Duncan’s to end December 8, 2018. While there are no guarantees, upon the expiration dates, both are expected to be re-nominated for new terms. (Note: We are disappointed the White House did not slot these two into full terms, especially given how much effort it has taken to get to this point. Evidently they want to keep the new governors on a short leash.)
The good news from this of course is that the USPS will soon be able to restart its incentive programs for postal discounts. In addition, the USPS’s “Growth For Both” promotion for catalog-specific discounts, which the ACMA has spearheaded, is expected to be submitted to the Postmaster General’s Executive Leadership Team; from there, it must go before the governors for final approval and implementation. Although it’s unclear when Growth For Both and the other batch of incentives will take effect, we expect some time next year.
President Nominates 2 More
Also on August 28th, President Trump announced his intent to nominate two more postal governors: Ron A. Bloom, a former senior official in the Obama Administration from February 2009 to August 2011; and Roman Martinez, IV, an independent director at Cigna Corp. and former longtime partner at Lehman Brothers. If confirmed by the Senate, Bloom would pick up a term that expires December 8, 2020, while Martinez would take a term that expires December 8, 2024.
The USPS has been without effective governance since 2014. The impact on decision making and management has been considerable.
Best,
Paul Miller
Vice President & Deputy Director
American Catalog Mailers Association
914-669-8391
pmiller@catalogmailers.org