Per the PRC order, this includes "all information, materials, and testimony on which the Postal Service would rely to demonstrate that its Exigent Request satisfies the causal nexus of 'due to,' as interpreted by the Commission" - "due to" referring to the impact of the 2008 recession.

According to the PRC order, the Commission stated that it would "apply its interpretation of the causal nexus of 'due to' to evaluate the remanded Exigent Request if the Postal Service wished to pursue it. The Postal Service, however, "has not provided all of the information necessary for the Commission to evaluate the Exigent Request." What's more, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe yesterday said that the USPS won't be be providing the requested information.

End of Exigency Once and For All?
So is the exigency case once and for all stone-cold dead? Not quite. It's still on the table because the PRC has not dismissed it. But it can't proceed in its current state. So it remains essentially in limbo. And with no intent of filing the required information, the USPS is standing behind its promise to take no further action on the case.

As we've stated in the past about the case, we must take PMG Donahoe's word on this, and he continues to say he has no intent to follow through with an exigency increase, but at the same time, doesn't want the case thrown out altogether, pending what comes out of Congress in legislation to save the USPS.

In its original exigency filing last year, the USPS sought $2.3 billion in additional revenue and an approximately 5%, on average, rate hike.

Best,
Paul Miller
Vice President & Deputy Director
American Catalog Mailers Association
pmiller@catalogmailers.org
914-669-8391
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