Larsen: Postal Service Reform Act ensures USPS can continue to deliver for NW WA

||| FROM THE OFFICE OF REP. RICK LARSEN |||

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) supported the Postal Service Reform Act, bipartisan legislation that ensures the United States Postal Service (USPS) remains independent and financially viable while continuing to provide high-quality service to Northwest Washington communities. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a final vote of 342 to 92.

“In Northwest Washington and across the country, the USPS is not a luxury—it is a necessity,” said Larsen. “This bipartisan bill makes the commonsense reforms needed to support USPS employees and retirees and ensure the USPS can continue to deliver for Northwest Washington and the American people.”

The bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act includes several provisions consistent with Larsen’s priorities to ensure the long-term viability of the USPS and to support the more than 12,000 USPS employees and tens of thousands of USPS retirees who call Washington home:

• Eliminates Medicare Prefunding Requirement– The bill eliminates the unfair requirement that the USPS prefund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employees for 75 years in the future. The USPS estimates this provision would reduce its prefunding liability and save approximately $27 billion over 10 years.
• Maximizes Employee Medicare Enrollment– The bill requires future USPS retirees, who have been paying into Medicare their entire careers, to enroll in Medicare. The USPS estimates this requirement could save approximately $22.6 billion over 10 years.
• Maintains Six-Day-a-Week Delivery– The bill requires the USPS to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network. Six-day delivery is a lifeline for rural and island communities, small businesses, and veterans and seniors who rely on the USPS to receive prescriptions.
• Ensures Data Transparency– The bill requires the USPS to develop an online system where people can track local and national service data. This data system increases transparency, promotes better service and give people insight into their local postal system.

Local organizations representing USPS employees and retirees in Washington state voiced support for the Postal Service Reform Act.

“For several years now, postal reform has been like Lucy and the football, but we are cautiously optimistic and hopeful it will finally pass!” said Don Sneesby, President, National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 316.

“The Washington Rural Letter Carriers’ Association would like to thank our Congressional Representatives for their support today in the passage of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act,” said Kurt Eckrem, President, National Rural Letter Carriers Association of Washington. “The House of Representatives voted nearly four to one in favor of this much needed and long overdue legislation. The provisions of H.R. 3076 will go a long way toward getting the USPS back on a solid financial footing, and the vote clearly affirms the importance to the entire country of the service provided by the hard-working postal employees.”

For a summary of the Postal Service Reform Act, click here.