POLICY SOLUTIONS
& WHY WE NEED THEM
The U.S. Postal Service is critical to our way of life, but it needs help to keep delivering.
The only service going the last mile for everyone.
The U.S. Postal Service is a critical, constitutionally authorized institution that is the only courier capable of—and mandated to—deliver mail and packages to every address in America. Postal carriers go the last mile, no matter how rural or remote the address.
An intricate and growing mail network.
The U.S. Postal Service processes over 130 million pieces of First Class Mail each day, going to and from a staggering 161 million delivery points. The cost and scope of its network continue to grow as the country adds approximately 1 million delivery addresses each year.
Rising postage
and mail
delays.
First-class postage and “forever stamps” increased in August 2021 from 55 cents to 58 cents. While rates for most mail went up, charities and other nonprofits, magazines, newspapers, and catalogs faced an even bigger postage increase of 8.8 percent. The Postal Service also implemented delays for most First Class Mail.
As service declines, so will the Postal Service itself.
While everyone feels the pinch of higher postage and delayed mail, these trends will also hurt the Postal Service because it will lose not only more consumer mail, but also business, newspaper and non-profit-related mail, which generates 90 percent of Postal Service revenue.
The Postal Service Reform Act (H.R. 3076) is the first meaningful update of postal policy in nearly two decades.
With support from the Postal Service itself, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, consumer groups, and labor unions, the legislation is a bipartisan—even nonpartisan—opportunity for Congress to do right by America.
Why? The Postal Service Reform Act not only puts the U.S. Postal Service on better financial footing, but it helps guarantee that the Postal Service will remain funded by postage, not taxpayers.
The legislation also codifies enhancements that will improve delivery transparency and accountability, while ensuring that the Postal Service can stay competitive and keep delivering for our nation well into the future.