Postal Service Financial Improvement Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2553 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain index fund investments from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2019 Mr. LYNCH (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain index fund investments from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Postal Service Finan- 4 cial Improvement Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. INVESTMENT OF THE POSTAL SERVICE RETIREE 6 HEALTH BENEFITS FUND. 7 Section 8909a(c) of title 5, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2553.IH H2553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2553 IH (1) by striking ‘‘(c) The Secretary’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Sec- 2 retary’’; and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary of the Treasury shall imme- 5 diately invest a specified percentage of the Fund, using 6 one or more qualified professional asset managers, in 7 index funds modeled after those established under sub- 8 paragraphs (B), (C), (D), and (E) of section 8438(b)(1). 9 The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac- 10 ticable, that the investment replicates the performance of 11 the longest-term target date asset allocation investment 12 fund established by the Federal Retirement Thrift Invest- 13 ment Board. 14 ‘‘(B) In exercising authority under subparagraph (A), 15 including in the selection of specific qualified professional 16 asset managers and in the development of specific invest- 17 ment guidelines to meet the requirement of such subpara- 18 graph, the Secretary shall consult with the Postal Service 19 Retiree Health Benefits Fund Investment Committee. 20 ‘‘(C)(i) There is established a Postal Service Retiree 21 Health Benefits Fund Investment Committee that shall 22 consist of— 23 ‘‘(I) the Secretary; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2553.IH H2553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2553 IH ‘‘(II) the Chair of the Board of Governors of 1 the United States Postal Service; 2 ‘‘(III) the Chairman of the Federal Retirement 3 Thrift Investment Board; and 4 ‘‘(IV) 2 members to represent the interests of 5 Postal Service employees and annuitants who— 6 ‘‘(aa) are appointed by the President; 7 ‘‘(bb) have experience and expertise in the 8 management of financial investments and Post- 9 al Service employee benefits; and 10 ‘‘(cc) shall serve for a term of 3 years. 11 ‘‘(ii) The Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits 12 Fund Investment Committee and each member of such 13 Committee shall be subject to the requirements of sub- 14 sections (b)(1) and (c)(2) of section 8477, in the same 15 manner as applied to a fiduciary with respect to the Thrift 16 Savings Fund under such subsections. 17 ‘‘(D)(i) The Secretary shall annually engage an inde- 18 pendent qualified public accountant to audit the financial 19 statements of the investments made pursuant to subpara- 20 graph (A). 21 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall submit an annual manage- 22 ment report to the Congress not later than 180 days after 23 the end of each fiscal year that includes— 24 ‘‘(I) a statement of financial position; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2553.IH H2553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2553 IH ‘‘(II) a statement of operations; 1 ‘‘(III) a statement of cash flows; 2 ‘‘(IV) a statement on internal accounting and 3 administrative control systems; 4 ‘‘(V) the report resulting from an audit of the 5 financial statements of the investments conducted 6 under clause (i); and 7 ‘‘(VI) any other comments and information nec- 8 essary to inform the Congress about the operations 9 and financial condition of the investments. 10 ‘‘(E) In this paragraph— 11 ‘‘(i) ‘specified percentage’ means 25 percent of 12 the currently available portions of the Fund as are 13 not immediately required for payments from the 14 Fund, except that the Postal Service Retiree Health 15 Benefits Fund Investment Committee may specify a 16 higher percentage, not to exceed 30 percent, not ear- 17 lier than 5 years after the date of enactment of the 18 Postal Service Financial Improvement Act of 2019, 19 and as appropriate thereafter; and 20 ‘‘(ii) ‘qualified professional asset manager’ has 21 the meaning given that term in section 8438(a).’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2553.IH H2553 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS