NAPS Chat

Freshman member of Congress Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) joins Bob to reflect on her first year in the House of Representatives and to share her views on a number of postal and federal employee-related issues. In addition, Rep. Budzinski discusses her past experience in the labor movement and as a member of the Biden White House. 

On this, the 200th episode of NAPS Chat, National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Staff Vice President for Policy and Programs John Hatton joins Bob to discuss crucial challenges and potential  legislation relating to postal and retiree benefits in 2024. Also, Bob touches upon postal first-class on time performance during the current peak mail season, and congressional...

National Association of Postal Supervisors Executive Vice President Chuck Mulidore joins Bob to discuss important legislative and Postal Service operational issues that deeply concern key members of Congress. Among the items discussed is legislation introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which strives to better protect postal employees from escalating...

The "open season" for choosing a Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) option runs from November 13 thru December 12. The choices are numerous and stakes are high. For the fifth year in a row, Bob is being joined by Jay Fritz, the Office of Personnel Management executive tasked with coordinating the FEHBP open season. Jay and Bob discuss what's new for active and retired pos...

A few weeks ago, Mark Action left the Postal Regulatory Commission with two decades of engagement with the postal community under his belt. Over a cup of coffee at local Washington, DC, coffee house, Mark shares with Bob his reflections about serving on the PRC and the agency's importance to ensure transparency, accountability and performance.

It appeared that the Statute of Freedom, which is sits atop the Capitol, needed scaffolding to stabilize it in the wake of the U.S. House of Representatives’ shutdown, resulting from the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Bob discusses the “House shutdown,” the overwhelming passage of a temporary government funding bill that sealed McCarthy’s fa...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Smithsonian Institution Postal Museum Curator Lynn Heidelbaugh joins Bob to talk about U.S. mail transportation. One of the major components of the Delivering for American Plan is shifting from air transport to ground movement of letters and packages. Moving the Mail , is an ongoing exhibit at the National Postal Museum, which traces the evolution of ma...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Government Executive columnist and founder of "Retire Federal" Tammy Flanagan joins Bob to talk about the growing number of USPS retirees who seek post-retirement employment. Tammy and Bob talk about issues that such retirees ought to consider when embarking on an "encore career."  Bob also shares news relating to the September 7 Sen...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Postal Commerce Michael Plunkett  joins Bob to talk about the role that PostCom plays in the postal space, and the current state of postal finances and operations.

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, NAPS Executive Vice President Chuck Mulidore joins Bob to talk about the National Association of Postal Supervisors' Disciplinary Defense Fund and how this "insurance policy" protects the interests of postal supervisors, managers and postmasters.

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Rep. Pete Session, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce joins Bob to talk about his perspective on Postal Service operations and his role as chairman of the subcommittee having jurisdiction over the agency. In part, Chairman Sessions reflects on his recent oversight hearing, a...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) Member Ann Fisher joins Bob to talk about the importance of U.S. Postal Service transparency and accountability, and how the PRC plays a constructive and necessary role in striving to meet those dual goals. Ann and Bob also discuss the different tools the PRC has as its disposal to cast light on particular aspects of p...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Joy Sazone, Research Specialist at the Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG), talks with Bob about a recently issued OIG "White Paper" on the investment of Postal Service pension funds. Joy was the lead author of the White Paper. In part, the paper suggests that had past CSRS and FERS contributions been invested in stock and bond in...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Bob Levi discusses the imminent introduction of a Senate companion to H.R. 3005, the Postal Police Reform Act, by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-IL); the May 17 House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce hearing, at which Postmaster General DeJoy testified; and the Postal Reg...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Karla Kirby, the U.S. Postal Service's Executive Manager for the Postal Service Health Benefits Program, joins Bob Levi to discuss the new postal health program, which will be effective  January 1, 2025. Karla and Bob discuss the status of the emerging program, its implementation, collaborative efforts to educate USPS employees and retirees about it...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, NAPS Executive Vice President Chuck Mulidore joins Bob Levi to discuss the recently concluded NAPS legislative conference in Washington, DC. Chuck and Bob discuss how conference attendees assessed the different elements of the 2023 NAPS Legislative Training Seminar, congressional engagement, and how NAPS fared on Capitol Hill. 

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Officers Association, joins Bob Levi to discuss the postal crime wave and how to reduce it. The escalation in postal-related crime, including assaults on USPS personnel, mail theft and mail fraud, concurrent with the 2020 USPS operational change to limit the law enforcement authority of postal police to the...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Nick Reaves of Yale Law School's Free Exercise Clinic joins Bob Levi to discuss an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court, Groff v. DeJoy. The case involves the allegation the USPS failed to accommodate the religious  beliefs of one of its employees. On behalf of Yale, Nick filed a "friend  of the court brief" in support of former Rural Carrier Associate Ger...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, National Association of Postal  Supervisors Executive Vice President Chuck Mulidore joins Bob to discuss  some early congressional activity relating to the social security equity for many Civil Service Retirement  System annuitants; the effect the commencement of collective-bargaining  between the NALC and USPS will have on impending pay...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, leading members of the  California Postal Legislative Coalition join Bob to discuss a variety of  issues that impact active and retired postal employees. The participants include: Marilyn Walton, Mary DiGoia and Kathryn Rahming of NAPS, Ron Jones of the NALC, Garry Davis of the  APWU, and Clarice Golden on UPMA. The CA Postal Legislative Coal...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Dr. Kevin Kosar, Senior Fellow  at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Bob Levi to discuss the  chaotic opening act of the 118th Congress, American confidence in the U.S. Postal Service and the agency's challenges. Dr. Kosar as been a periodic guest on NAPS Chat. During  Kevin's tenure at the Congressional Research Service, he was its re...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, American University Constitutional Law Professor Stephen Wermiel joins Bob Levi to discuss  the historical context of the U.S. Postal Service being deployed as the nation's morality police. This issue has emerged  from the shadows as the result of the U.S. Department of Justice's  recent memorandum declaring that mailing prescription medicati...

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, NAPS Director of Legislative  & Political Affairs Director reflects on the first days of the 118th  Congress and its lasting impact on the postal employee community.

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, Karen Young, the publisher of  the National Association of Postal Supervisors monthly magazine invites Bob Levi to reflect on this past year's legislative and political news, and expectations for next year.

During this week's episode of NAPS Chat, National Association of Postal  Supervisors Michiana (Michigan-Indiana) Area Vice President Kevin  Trayer, joins Bob Levi to discuss his efforts to alert federal and local elected officials, and impacted  communities, about the USPS' ongoing sorting and delivery center  consolidation initiative. Bob also provides an update on the Democra...