Lacey, WA – Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) voted to strengthen the Postal Service through the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. This bipartisan legislation, proudly cosponsored by the Congresswoman, will boost the financial footing of USPS, ensuring it can continue to deliver reliable, on-time mail service. The bill will also save the USPS billions in funding, increase performance transparency, and create new sources of revenue.
“Over the past few years, South Sound residents have faced issues getting their mail delivered on time while Postal Service employees have not received the support they need to do their jobs,” said Strickland. “I was proud to support this critical legislation, which will give our Postal Service the flexibility to spend its resources effectively and better serve constituents, Postal Service employees, and their families.”
Because of the extremely unusual requirement that the Post Office fund 75 years of retiree benefits in advance, this institution is on the path to insolvency, facing an urgent shortage of funding as its delivery obligations continue to grow. The Postal Service currently provides mail to nearly 159 million delivery points and adds an additional one million every year. Yet even as postal workers service more locations, revenue has continued to fall due to lower mail volume. Having suffered fourteen consecutive years of net losses, the Postal Service is projected to run out of funds entirely by 2024, threatening to worsen delays and service reductions that are already hampering the ability of Washingtonians to receive their mail and deliveries on time.
The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 enacts several overdue changes to address these financial challenges, improve mail delivery and support postal workers and retirees, including:
- Welcoming all future postal retirees into Medicare, delivering quality health care to our committed public servants while saving the Postal Service $22.6 billion over the next decade.
- Repealing a burdensome requirement forcing the Postal Service to pre-fund retirees’ health care 75 years in advance, saving $27 billion over the next decade.
- Promoting reliable delivery and transparency through a public-facing, online dashboard featuring national and local level service performance data.
- Codifying the Postal Service’s longtime tradition of delivering mail and packages six days per week.
- Allowing the Postal Service to raise additional revenues by offering non-commercial property and services to state, local and tribal governments.
Since her term began, Strickland has been a strong proponent of reforming the Postal Service, including co-sponsoring H.R. 1636, the Postal Service Vehicle Modernization Act, which would require at least 75% of the new postal fleet purchased to be electric. In addition, Strickland has opposed efforts to privatize the Postal Service while protecting door delivery for businesses and customers, restoring mail delivery service standards, and continuing six-day mail delivery service.
To read a full copy of the bill text, click here.
U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and is the only African-American woman who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. She is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress and is the first African-American elected to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.
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