South Dakota Republicans question impact on rural areas of USPS downsizing

U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and John Thune (R-SD) joined U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) in urging the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) against downsizing or significantly reorganizing mail processing operations in states like South Dakota without considering the impact on rural areas.

Specifically, the lawmakers are concerned that such actions taken under the current process for the USPS Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) could adversely impact mail delivery in America’s rural areas, according to an April 10 letter they sent to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

“We share your belief that all Americans deserve the USPS’s highest service standards. We also recognize that some infrastructure changes and system modernizations may be necessary to mitigate USPS’s financial pressures,” they wrote. “However, such changes should not come at the expense of rural and highly rural populations in South Dakota or similar states.”

As part of its Delivering for America plan, USPS is reviewing every processing and distribution center in the nation in order to offset deficits by reducing services at some and eliminating others, according to the letter. 

Over the past few decades, wrote the lawmakers, rural communities across South Dakota have seen their postal processing facilities consolidated and delivery delays increase due to closures after local mail and packages were rerouted through more distant processing facilities. 

“We believe that further curtailment of processing operations in South Dakota could yield additional delays and costs not apparent through the MPFR process,” they wrote. 

And with mail being rerouted out of state, the lawmakers said they are concerned that there could be more delays stemming from adverse weather that would affect rural towns, other small communities, and tribal nations across South Dakota. 

“Additionally, there could be added costs owing to the increased expense of transportation to rural customers over greater distances,” they wrote.

Sen. Rounds, Sen. Thune, and Rep. Johnson asked DeJoy to address their concerns in a response by May 1.