Postal Service records revenue increase, but losses remain as overhaul bill appears to stall "We're in a deep financial hole," USPS Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said during a media briefing last week. With one year of nearly breaking even [on operating revenue], we're not ready to declare victory. We can't continue to remain in this precarious position. A leading bipartisan Senate bill has hit a snag in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which pushed back a vote set for this month amid concerns from Democrats about the service cuts and rate increases the legislation allows. Even if the committee votes before the Thankgiving recess, congressional aides acknowledge privately that the bill is unlikely to make it to the Senate floor this year. In the House, Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) pushed a bill through the panel in July, with only Republican support. It has not reached the House floor. The sponsors of the Senate bill, committee Chairman Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the panel's top Republican, have said they want an agreement that all sides can live with. Carper "remains hopeful that the committee can proceed with a markup on the bill later this month," a spokeswoman said in a statement. Net losses for the agency since 2011 are $26 billion. The net loss for 2013 is largely the result of Congress's requirement that the Postal Service prefund retiree benefits, critics of the mandate say. The agency defaulted on its $5.6 billion prepayment last month. Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), who has proposed legislation to end the obligation, said the Postal Service would have recorded a net profit of $600 million without the annual payment. "In terms of their business operations, they brought in more than they spent, but they have this burden," Sanders said in an interview Friday. No other business or government agency is burdened with this mandate. The Postal Service has pressed Congress to end the payment mandate, but USPS officials said Friday that such a move would not end the agency's monetary woes, noting that the organization is still $40 billion in debt despite its improving finances. The $5 billion loss this year represents a significant improvement over 2012, when the agency lost about $16 billion. An 8 percent increase in revenue from package deliveries helped improve the numbers, and the USPS is poised to make additional progress through new agreements with online retailers such as Amazon. But the gains this year were partially offset by a revenue drop of 0.05 percent in first-class mail delivery, which remains the Postal Service's most profitable product. The agency experienced declines in that category of about 6 percent in 2011 and 4 percent in 2012.