Bipartisan legislation was put forth on Wednesday to fix the challenges facing the U.S. Postal Service.
The legislation, the Improving Postal Operations, Service, and Transparency Act of 2015 (iPOST), was sponsored by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Tom Carper (D-DE).
“I have heard from Missourians from all parts of the state that depend on a strong and efficient U.S. Postal Service,” Blunt said. “This bill will help get the Postal Service on stable financial footing and modernize the post office. I am glad to join my colleagues in support of the iPOST Act.”
Included in the iPost Act is a comprehensive package of reforms meant to provide firm financial footing for the Postal Service. The reforms would also stabilize and improve service performance, allow for the development of new products and services, and enhance transparency.
A broad range of views from stakeholders are reflected by the bill, which offers a compromise solution to the issues that both the Postal Service and Congress have grappled with for years.
“This bipartisan legislation will help modernize our mail system and more effectively serve the millions of rural folks in Missouri and across the country that rely on the postal service as a source of communications and commerce every day,” McCaskill said. “Ensuring the Postal Service endures through the 21st century is critical for everyone from the modern entrepreneur to the grandchild placing a card in the mailbox, and I’m proud to help lead this bipartisan effort to sustain it.”
The Postal Service has struggled since the 2008 economic downturn and during the transition to digital communications and commerce. It currently owes $15 billion, with tens of billions of dollars more in unfunded pension and health care obligations in the coming years.
The Postal Service had a net loss of $5.1 billion at the end of Fiscal Year 2015 and now has a net deficit of more than $50 billion.