Maloney announced legislation at Newburgh event
On Sept. 3, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, joined by Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, Senator James Skoufis, and three postal workers, stood in front of the Newburgh Post Office to discuss recent procedural changes within the United States Postal Service and their impact on the November election. He also highlighted the Delivering for America Act which aims to provide $25 billion in funding to the postal service.
When Louis DeJoy was appointed as postmaster general, back in June, he enacted a series of changes, including the shutdown of sorting machines and elimination of overtime, aimed at closing the gap in the $8 billion shortfall the USPS faces annually. Unfortunately, rather than save the postal service money, the changes have caused a disruption in service leading some to believe the moves are politically motivated in light of the fact the mail service is expected to see an increase in mail-in ballots this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maloney described the USPS’ financial situation as a “manufactured crisis” because the U.S. Congress imposed a 75-year pre-funding requirement on pensions for future postal workers — even those who may not have been born yet. He said government services aren’t supposed to make money.
The pandemic hasn’t worked in the postal service’s favor either.
Over 7,600 postal workers have contracted the coronavirus, and 44,000 have been forced to quarantine after exposure. Over 80 postal workers have died.
The pandemic coupled with operational changes has resulted in a spike in online shopping, but with slower package delivery. First-class mail operations and marketing mail have declined considerably, with one billion fewer pieces of first-class mail being sent compared to last year. In the past, all efforts were made to deliver priority mail, now important packages may not get delivered until a day later. Maloney said 80 percent of seniors rely on the postal service for prompt delivery of medication.
“I don’t care who you vote for; I don’t care what your politics are… Nobody should have to choose between their health and exercising their right to vote.”
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
“We went back to Washington, on an emergency basis, to pass the Delivering for America Act which addresses many of these issues,” said Maloney.
The Delivering for America Act is a recently-passed bipartisan bill which would prevent service reductions to the USPS and provide $25 billion in funding to respond to the economic stress put on the postal service.
The Fairness Act, which was also passed by the House earlier this year, repeals the requirement that the U.S. Postal Service annually prepay future retirement health benefits. Both bills need to be passed by the Senate.
The Delivering for America Act aims at improving the handling and delivery of mail ahead of the November election.
Joe Destefano, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 137, said given the tools, the postal service would have no problem handling the increase in mail-in ballots. For the 2016 election, he said the USPS handled 130 million mail-in ballots.
“I don’t care who you vote for; I don’t care what your politics are,” Maloney said. “You should be able to vote by mail if you have the inability to vote in person. Nobody should have to choose between their health and exercising their right to vote.”
The Delivering for America Act would prohibit:
• Any change that would generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis;
• Any revision of existing service standards;
• Closing, consolidating or reducing the hours of any post office or postal facility;
• Any prohibition on paying overtime to Postal Service officers or employees;
• Any change that would prevent the Postal Service from meeting its service standards or cause a decline in measurements of performance relative to those standards; and
• Any change that would have the effect of delaying mail or increasing the volume of undelivered mail.
This legislation will also:
• Include $25 billion requested by the Postal Service and supported unanimously and on a bipartisan basis by the Trump-appointed Postal Board of Governors;
• Require the Postal Service to treat all official election mail as First-Class mail;
• Prohibit the removal, decommissioning or other stoppage of mail sorting machines, other than for routine maintenance;
• Prohibit the removal of mailboxes; and
• Explicitly reverse any changes already implemented to the operations or policies of the Postal Service that delay mail delivery.
