H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021, would improve the efficiency of the United States Postal Service (USPS) and place it on a more sustainable fiscal path.  H.R. 3076 passed the House of Representatives on February 8, 2022, with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 342-92.  The Senate is scheduled to vote on cloture on H.R. 3076 today, March 7, 2022, setting the bill up for passage tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8, 2022.  Senators should vote for cloture and passage so the bill can be sent to President Biden to be signed into law.

  The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) has long supported postal reform including advocating for passage of H.R. 3076.  CCAGW sent letters to the House and Senate supporting this bill, and on March 3, 2022, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), noting the importance the USPS has for small businesses, veterans, elderly, and rural constituents, read CCAGW’s February 28, 2022, letter into the Congressional Record during his floor speech supporting H.R. 3076.

  H.R. 3076 codifies an integrated delivery network of packages and mail together six days a week.  Requiring the USPS to create separate delivery systems for packages and mail would increase costs, slow down delivery, and raise prices for customers.  Separate networks would cost more than $15 billion annually for a new fleet of vehicles and tens of thousands of new employees and would make a taxpayer bailout more likely. The integrated delivery provision has broad support including from the USPS, the Postal Regulatory Commission, mailers, shippers, and pro-taxpayer organizations.    

  H.R. 3076 also prevents the USPS from getting into financial services and other non-postal commercial businesses.  CCAGW has long advocated that postal banking is an idea whose time should never come.  In the fall of 2021, USPS began providing Visa cards of up to $500 to customers who use business checks for transactions.  The USPS sold a total of six cards between September 13, 2021, and January 12, 2022, bringing in a total of $37.50 in fees, which is equal to the pay for about two hours of work for one USPS clerk.  As the USPS said in 2014, the USPS’ “core function is delivery, not banking” and  H.R. 3076 would keep the USPS focused on its core mission. 

 H.R. 3076 does not solve all of the issues that are facing the USPS, but it sets the agency on the path to a more sustainable future.  The Senate should follow the House’s lead and pass this commonsense, bipartisan bill and send it to President Biden for his signature.