Postal Reform Act of 2011 would save about $20B according to the CBO

H.R. 2309, also known as the Postal Reform Act of 2011, would change the laws that govern the operation of the Postal Service by:

• Allowing the Postal Service to deliver mail five days per
• Transfering about $11 billion in surplus retirement contributions from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) to the Postal Service Fund;
• Reducing the contribution made by the Postal Service for employees’ health and life insurance premiums;
• Changing the payments that the Postal Service is required to make to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF); and
• Eliminating annual appropriations made to the Postal Service for free and reduced rate mail.

In addition, other provisions of H.R. 2309 would help the Postal Service reduce its costs and increase its income.
CBO estimates that enacting the bill would result in off-budget savings totaling about $28 billion and on-budget costs of about $8 billion over the 2012-2022 period.

H.R. 2309 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates, as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), on some groups of mailers by increasing postage rates.  CBO estimates that the costs to the private sector to comply with the mandates would fall below $146 million in 2012, adjusted annually for inflation,which is the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA.

The bill also would impose an intergovernmental mandate on the state of Alaska by requiring the state to reimburse the USPS for costs it incurs to provide bypass mail service in Alaska.   For more details, see the CBO Cost Estimate Report here.