Government affairs

On Feb. 5, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced H.R. 784, The Overnight Delivery Act. The legislation aims to return USPS service standards to those in place on Dec. 31, 2011. If passed, it also would reverse the effects of the Postal Service’s “Network Rationalization Plan,” a plan that not only has slowed mail delivery to many rural and metropolitan areas, it has eliminated overnight mail delivery nationwide.

“At a time when millions of Americans are still struggling to pay the bills,” DeLauro said, “it would be particularly inopportune for USPS to close more facilities and cut jobs. More closings would also hurt businesses that depend on overnight mail delivery to reach their customers. Just last month, the postmaster general stated that current service standards could even delay returned mail and payments to collectors.”

This bill’s introduction is timely, arriving not long after a USPS Office of Inspector General’s report found that “excessive delayed mail adversely affects U.S. Postal Service customers and harms the organization’s brand.”

In the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2015 (covering the last three months of 2014), USPS had an operating profit of $1.1 billion. So instead of allowing the Postal Service to unnecessarily continue degrading its service standards, now is the time to find more ways to invest in the Postal Service and its unique delivery network.

In the House, 59 members signed on as initial co-sponsors of H.R. 784. Please get in touch with your representative and make sure he or she is signed on.