Congress has passed legislation that would bolster the U.S. Postal Service. The bill approved by the Senate would also require six-day-a-week mail delivery. It now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law.
Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said the Postal Service has been in a “death spiral” that is particularly hard on rural Americans, including in his state of Kansas, as post offices shuttered and services were cut. “Smart reforms were needed,” he said.
Postage sales and other services were supposed to sustain the Postal Service, but it has suffered 14 straight years of losses. Growing workers’ compensation and benefit costs, plus steady declines in mail volume, have contributed to the red ink, even as the Postal Service delivers to 1 million additional locations every year.
Instead, the Postal Service would require future retirees to enroll in Medicare and would pay current retirees’ actual health care costs that aren’t covered by the federal health insurance program for older people. Voters rely on the post office to deliver government checks, prescription drugs and many goods purchased online but ultimately delivered to doorsteps and mailboxes by the Postal Service.