Kilmer Votes to Strengthen U.S. Postal Service
Washington, DC – On Tuesday, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) voted to support the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation aimed at helping the U.S. Postal Service remain financially viable and ensuring it provides the high quality of service Americans expect and deserve. By saving billions in funding and increasing performance transparency the bipartisan legislation aims to continue reliable, on-time mail service to Washingtonians who rely on the Postal Service to receive paychecks, lifesaving prescriptions, tax returns and more. Rep. Kilmer spoke on the House floor in support of the legislation.
“Even before this pandemic began, the Post Office and our postal workers played a critical role in our society, ensuring that people around our state and across the country received essential packages and letters - including medication, food, supplies, ballots, and notes from loved ones,” said Rep. Kilmer. “That’s why today I voted to strengthen the Post Office, support postal workers, and ensure reliable, nationwide mail service continues for generations to come.”
The Postal Service’s financial condition has been deteriorating over the past decade due to a number of factors – and incurred its fourteenth consecutive net annual loss in 2020. Today, the Postal Service provides mail to nearly 159 million delivery points and adds an additional one million every year. However, as postal workers service more locations, revenue has continued to fall due to lower mail volume.
The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 enacts several 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 prefund 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.
The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives 342 – 92.
The following groups endorsed the Postal Service Reform Act: the National Association of Postal Supervisors; the National Rural Letter Carrier Association; National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE); National Postal Mail Handlers Association; National Association of Letter Carriers; American Postal Workers Union; American Forest & Paper Association; Envelope Manufacturers Association; National Newspaper Association; and National Retail Federation, among others.