Congressman Dan Kildee, Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, today applauded the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act—bipartisan legislation, supported by Democrats and Republicans, to improve U.S. Postal Service operations.
The Postal Service Reform Act will secure Postal Service finances, save the federal government nearly $1.5 billion over ten years, and ensure high-quality service six days per week for the millions of Michiganders who rely on the Postal Service to deliver lifesaving medications, groceries, paychecks, tax refunds, absentee ballots and more.
“The Postal Service is a fundamental part of our civil society,” said Congressman Kildee. “The Postal Service keeps our country connected, especially rural communities and small businesses selling their products around the world. Every day, the hardworking men and women of the Postal Service deliver lifesaving medications, paychecks and Social Security benefits. I am proud to pass legislation in the House to secure the future of the Postal Service and ensure it can better serve the residents of mid-Michigan for generations to come.”
“As a small business, strengthening the Postal Service's financial security is essential to our operations. The Postal Service is a public service that allows small businesses like Genusee to ship our glasses affordably and reliably across the country. As a brand that manufactures a made in USA product, using the Postal Service as our preferred shipping carrier aligns with our values and helps support thousands of public employee jobs. Strengthening the financial security of the Postal Service would better enable it to address staffing shortages and support infrastructure and technology to increase speed and efficiencies, which our customers have grown expect,” said Ali Rose van Overbeke, Founder and CEO of Genusee, a Flint small business.
“This legislation goes a long way to provide for the necessary changes that will protect America’s Postal Service now and into the future. This would not have happened without Representative Kildee's leadership and support, and we thank him for always being there for the American Postal Workers Union and America's Postal Service,” said Roscoe Woods, President of American Postal Workers Union Local 480-481.
Specifically, this bill will:
- Ensure Six-Day Integrated Delivery: Require the Postal Service to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network.
- Improve Service Performance Transparency: Require the Postal Service to develop a public-facing, online dashboard with national and local level service performance data updated each week to provide additional transparency and promote compliance with on-time delivery of mail.
- Add Non-Postal Services: Allow the Postal Service to enter into agreements with state, local and tribal governments to provide non-postal services in post offices that serve local needs, like state hunting and fishing licenses.
- Improve the Effectiveness of the Postal Service: Make reforms to improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service, including conducting a review of pricing guidelines and operational inefficiencies, requiring regular congressional reporting on operations and financial performance and consolidating the Postal Regulatory Commission’s small Inspector General Office into the more robust Post Service Office of Inspector General.
- Eliminate the Requirement to Prefund Retiree Health Benefits: Currently, the Postal Service is the only federal government entity required to prefund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employees for 75 years into the future. This bill would eliminate this heavy financial burden endangering this critical service. The Postal Service estimates this provision would save roughly $27 billion over 10 years.
This legislation is supported by: The Greeting Card Association; Keep Us Posted; the National Association of Postal Supervisors; Sylvamo; Amazon; Hallmark Cards; the National Rural Letter Carrier Association; National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE); National Postal Mail Handlers Association; Publishers Clearing House; the Vermont Country Store; King Arthur Flour; Gardener’s Supply Company; National Association of Letter Carriers; American Postal Workers Union; Package Shipping Association; United Postmasters and Managers of America; Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service; American Catalog Mailers Association; American Forest & Paper Association; Association of National Advertisers; Envelope Manufacturers Association; Major Mailers Association; MailersHub; National Association of Presort Mailers; National Newspaper Association; National Postal Policy Council; National Retail Federation; News Media Alliance; Printing United Alliance; Retail Industry Leaders Association; Saturation Mailers Coalition; The Package Coalition and BCC Software.
Original source can be found here.
