Press Releases

Wexton Votes to Strengthen Postal Service and Ensure Reliable, On-Time Mail Service for Virginians

Washington, February 8, 2022

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) voted to improve mail delivery across Virginia and strengthen the U.S. Postal Service with the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. By saving billions in funding, increasing performance transparency, and creating new sources of revenue, this bipartisan legislation will strengthen the financial footing of USPS so that it can continue to deliver reliable, on-time mail service to Virginians who rely on the Postal Service to receive hard-earned paychecks, lifesaving prescriptions, tax returns, and more.

“The Postal Service is in urgent need of reform to restore its financial solvency and avoid devastating cuts to service,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. “The legislation I voted to pass today will give consumers greater transparency into on-time mail delivery performance, require 6-days per week delivery for mail and packages, and save the Postal Service tens of billions of dollars by improving the way it funds retirees' health benefits. I'm proud that Congress is taking bipartisan action to improve the reliability and efficiency of this service now and for the next generation of Americans.”

Because of the unnecessarily burdensome requirement that the Post Office fund 75 years of retiree benefits in advance, this institution is on the path to insolvency, facing an urgent shortage of funding as its delivery obligations continue to grow. The Postal Service currently provides mail to nearly 159 million delivery points and adds an additional one million every year. Yet even as postal workers service more locations, revenue has continued to fall due to lower mail volume.  Having suffered fourteen consecutive years of net losses, the Postal Service is projected to run out of funds entirely by 2024, threatening to worsen delays and service reductions that are already hampering the ability of Virginians to receive their mail and deliveries on time.

The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 enacts several overdue changes to address these financial challenges, improve mail delivery, and support postal workers and retirees, including:

  • Welcoming all future postal retirees into Medicare, delivering quality health care to our committed public servants while saving the Postal Service $22.6 billion over the next decade.
  • Repealing a burdensome requirement forcing the Postal Service to prefund retirees’ health care 75 years in advance, saving $27 billion over the next decade.
  • Promoting reliable delivery and transparency through a public-facing, online dashboard featuring national and local level service performance data.
  • Codifying the Postal Service’s longtime tradition of delivering mail and packages six days per week.
  • Allowing the Postal Service to raise additional revenues by offering non-commercial property and services to state, local, and tribal governments.

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