Washington, D.C. –U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said today he has joined colleagues to introduce bipartisan legislation that would set the United States Postal Service on a more sustainable financial footing and support the goal of providing long-term reliable service across the country.
“Oregonians throughout our state depend on the Postal Service to receive safe and timely delivery of their prescription drugs, to vote at home, to get packages and many other essential day-to-day needs,” Wyden said. “This legislation would enable the Postal Service to have its dedicated workers keep providing reliable service in their communities by jettisoning unfair and needless financial constraints that hamstring the agency’s ability to deliver.”
The Postal Service Reform Act would eliminate the aggressive prefunding requirement that has hurt the Postal Service financially, and integrate postal worker retirees’ health care with Medicare. Together, these two reforms would create $45.9 billion in savings for the Postal Service over the next ten years. In addition, the bill would require the Postal Service to maintain its standard of delivering at least six days a week. The legislation would improve transparency of Postal Service operations to both customers and Congress by requiring the publication of easily accessible weekly service data on the Postal Service website, as well as issuing a detailed report to Congress every six months on Postal Service finances and operations. The bill also includes bipartisan provisions for Postal Service accountability and growth.
In addition to Wyden, other co-sponsors of the legislation introduced this week by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) are U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Richard Burr (R-NC), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Shelley Capito (R-WV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Steve Daines (R-MT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) joined Peters and Portman in introducing the bill as original.
A bipartisan companion bill was approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform last week.
The full text of the Postal Service Reform Act is here.
A web version of this release is here.