To inform state workforce agencies (SWAs) of the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA’s) intention to eliminate its authority to pay the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) directly for “employment security” postage costs beginning Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. These plans include the following:

• Phasing out ETA payment to the United States Postal Service (USPS) for state agency penalty mail and postal management costs beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 for states volunteering to be early implementers; beginning in FY 2008, all states will assume responsibility for paying their own postage costs as well as any postal management services currently provided to states through the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Supplemental Budget Request (SBR) process;
• Implementing new procedures to fund UI, Foreign Labor Certification (FLC), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), and Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) postage beginning with FY 2008;
• Implementing new procedures to fund Wagner-Peyser (WP) and Workforce Information Grants (WIGs) beginning with Program Year (PY) 2008;
• Providing guidance on the payment of postage costs for programs conducted by SWAs in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS);
• Providing information on technical assistance available to states in converting from the (penalty mail) Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS) to commercial mail to improve general mail practices; and
• Soliciting UI SBRs from states for the purpose of implementing commercial mail programs and improving postage management.