After 14 straight years of losses, Congress approved a 7 billion bipartisan bill to overhaul the United States Postal Service, or USPS.

Jimmie Johnson Reporter

How will an overhauled USPS operate?

Mar 17, 2022

Jimmie Johnson Reporter

By Jimmie Johnson (Reporter), Ryan Tiedgen (Video Editor)

After 14 straight years of losses, the United States Postal Service is receiving a $107 billion overhaul. Lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill to modernize the government-funded agency and prevent it from shutting its doors.

Postal Service Reform Act passes with bipartisan support

“Today, after much hard work, the Senate is providing the Postal Service a much-needed reset,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) proclaimed on the Senate floor.

Lawmakers said the funding will put the shipping carrier on a path to financial stability.

“What this does is it saves the post office, which is incredibly important to all of our constituents,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).

USPS remains an American staple

Millions of Americans still use the postal service to receive medication, pay bills, and vote. In addition, private shipping companies like UPS and Amazon use the provider to deliver packages to homes in rural communities.

Reforms to Postal Service

To revive the agency, the government is implementing the following reforms:

USPS is no longer scaling back; it will continue delivering the mail six days a week.
The postal service is no longer mandated to finance employees’ health insurance costs years in advance.
Current and future retirees are now required to enroll in Medicare, and any costs not covered under the employee’s government health insurance plan USPS will cover it.
The Postal Service must provide more transparency by creating an online dashboard that will calculate delivery times based on a customer’s zip code.

According to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, these changes will save the agency $26.7 billion over 10 years.

Tags: Society at Large

JIMMIE JOHNSON: TENS OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS RELY ON THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE EVERY SINGLE DAY.

HOWEVER, U-S-P-S HASN’T BEEN PROFITABLE FOR 14 STRAIGHT YEARS.

WILL AN OVERHAUL OF THE POSTAL SERVICE BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO THE GOVERNMENT-FUNDED AGENCY? LAWMAKERS SEEM TO THINK SO… LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT.

THERE ARE NOT MANY BIPARTISAN WINS ON CAPITOL HILL BUT KEEPING THE MAIL FLOWING IS ONE OF THEM.

LEAHY: “The yays 79, the nays are 19. the vote passes.”

JIMMIE: CONGRESS PASSED A BILL INFUSING THE POSTAL SERVICE WITH 107-BILLION TO HELP MODERNIZE AND PREVENT IT FROM SHUTTERING ITS DOORS.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: “Today after much hard work, the Senate is providing the Postal Service a much-needed reset.”

JIMMIE: A RESET LAWMAKERS SAY SETS THE SHIPPING CARRIER ON A PATH TO FINANCIAL STABILITY.

SEN. ROB PORTMAN: “What this does do is it saves the Post Office, which is incredibly important to all of our constituents.”

JIMMIE: WHILE THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS HAD ITS SHARE OF HICCUPS OVER THE YEARS, MANY AMERICANS STILL USE IT TO RECEIVE MEDICATION, PAY BILLS AND VOTE.

AND LARGE SHIPPING COMPANIES LIKE U-P-S AND AMAZON USE THE POSTAL SERVICE TO DELIVER TO HOMES IN RURAL AREAS.

THAT’S PART OF THE REASON, THE GOVERNMENT IS IMPLEMENTING THESE REFORMS.

ONE, INSTEAD OF U-S-P-S SCALING BACK, IT WILL CONTINUE DELIVERING THE MAIL SIX DAYS A WEEK.

TWO, IT WILL END THE POSTAL SERVICE’S OBLIGATION TO FINANCE EMPLOYEES’ HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS YEARS IN ADVANCE.

THREE, CURRENT AND FUTURE RETIREES ARE TO ENROLL IN MEDICARE. AND ANY COSTS NOT COVERED WILL BE COVERED BY U-S-P-S.

THOSE CHANGES ALONE ARE EXPECTED TO SAVE ROUGHLY 24-BILLION DOLLARS OVER 10 YEARS, ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM.

AND FOUR, THE POSTAL SERVICE MUST PROVIDE MORE TRANSPARENCY BY CREATING AN ONLINE DASHBOARD THAT WOULD CALCULATE DELIVERY TIMES BASED ON A CUSTOMER’S ZIP CODE.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PLAN TO MODERNIZE THE POST OFFICE?

LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.