By Hadassa Kalatizadeh
The State legislature turned its attention to the ailing US Postal Service.
As reported by the NY Post, the USPS has reported total net losses in excess of $90 billion since 2007. In last week’s fourth quarter earnings report it posted a net loss of $1.5 billion.
On Sunday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the senate will vote on Monday evening regarding providing the equivalent of roughly $50 billion in financial relief over the next ten years to the postal service. Last Tuesday, the House had voted and approved the tens of billions in funding by a wide margin (342 to 92). The package would also include changes to retirement benefits, including a mandate that future retirees enroll in federal health insurance.
“There is good news for anyone who needs the mail and likes the mail,” Schumer (D-NY) said at a press conference in Manhattan. The Democratic NY Senior Senator highlighted the importance of the postal service, saying that in the 2020 election, 43 percent of voters cast their votes by mail, and that the Social Security Administration sends some 350 million notices annually via mail. “Let’s face it: the post office is one of the most important institutions, the most hallowed institutions, in American life,” said Schumer. “To starve it, to squeeze it so it can’t do its job, makes no sense. And we have Democrats and Republicans coming together to make it happen.” He added that the constantly cash-strapped agency “has everybody’s support, because it’s what’s needed.”
Schumer noted that “the mail is very late these days,” blaming conservatives, and assuring that the proposed legislation will “bring $50 billion of needed funds to the post office so the mail will start being on time again.”
As per the Post, the bill would undo the USPS’ requirement to pre-fund retiree health benefits for current and retired employees for the coming 75 years, freeing up roughly $27 billion over the next 10 years, the USPS says. Further, it would require future retirees to enroll in Medicare, which could save the agency over $22.6 billion over 10 years. Currently, about 25 percent of USPS retirees don’t enroll in Medicare though they are eligible, leaving the USPS pay higher premiums to cover their insurance.
The bill also compels the USPS to maintain six-day-a-week mail deliveries and to add an online performance tracking system.
