March 14, 2022

Alliance Praises Senate Passage of Bipartisan Postal Reform Bill

The Senate passed the Postal Service Reform Act, H.R. 3076, on Tuesday, repealing the Congressional mandate that the U.S. Postal Service spend billions of dollars every year to prefund retiree health care. With White House officials indicating President Biden intends to sign the bill into law, the Postal Service will soon pay these costs on a yearly basis, as other government agencies and corporations do, saving nearly $50 billion over 10 years.

“The bipartisan 79-19 Senate vote this week to pass postal reform, following the House of Representatives’ vote last month, will help ensure that the Postal Service will be able to serve all Americans for years to come,” said Robert Roach, Jr., President of the Alliance. “Strengthening the Postal Service has been an Alliance priority for years. The activism of thousands of Alliance members who have attended demonstrations, called and written to their members of Congress has helped bring us to this moment.”

“Older Americans rely on the U.S. Postal Service for timely at-home delivery of medications and important mail on weekdays and weekends,” said Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance. “It can trace its roots to 1775, when Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster general, and it is as important today as it ever was.”