The U.S. Senate is debating a bill that would reshape the U.S. Postal Service as the moratorium on closing processing centers and post offices, mostly in rural areas, nears its end. The agency has been struggling with finding ways to recoup billions of dollars worth of debt, from the closings to delaying first class mail and ending Saturday delivery. (Getty Images photo by Justin Sullivan)
The Senate bill would delay by two years the end of Saturday delivery, allow mailing of alcohol, leave overnight first-class delivery in place and require the agency to downsize processing centers rather than close them, reports Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post. It would also require USPS to work with communities before closing post offices to determine what postal services best meet local needs, giving communities a range of options, from leaving the office open or opening a postal kiosk in a store. Affected communities would still be allowed to appeal any closure to the Postal Regulatory Commission.
Senators supporting the bill say it's a balanced approach to solving the agency's problems for the long term, but a Government Accountability Office report released last week said delaying an end to Saturday mail delivery "could make it difficult" for the USPS to save $22.5 billion by 2016 as planned. To compensate for that and help the agency meet that deadline, the bill would give USPS money to buy out as many as 100,000 eligible workers. (Read more)
The National Newspaper Association, the main lobby for papers that use the mail, sent out an urgent plea this afternoon for members to contact their senators in support of the bill, saying "It gives USPS financial tools for survival." NNA said the bill would keep postage rates for periodicals under inflation-based limits. "USPS argues that Periodicals postage does not cover costs," NNA said. "NNA argues that the costs themselves are out of control and cost measurement is not accurate for newspaper mail."
The National Newspaper Association, the main lobby for papers that use the mail, sent out an urgent plea this afternoon for members to contact their senators in support of the bill, saying "It gives USPS financial tools for survival." NNA said the bill would keep postage rates for periodicals under inflation-based limits. "USPS argues that Periodicals postage does not cover costs," NNA said. "NNA argues that the costs themselves are out of control and cost measurement is not accurate for newspaper mail."
No comments:
Post a Comment