Preserving the USPS
This time it's personal
Photo credit: Pixabay
There are news reports out about how 47 wants to convert the United States Postal Service from an independent agency to a subsidiary of the Commerce Department, putting it under the Executive Branch. While some might argue that there are benefits to such a transition, but there are some significant problems that are bound to occur.
This page from History Associates has a great history of the USPS, so I won’t get into the weeds with this except to say that it is part of Article I Section 8 of the Constitution and is under the power of Congress. Any changes to the Postal Service that removes it from control of Congress would be considered unconstitutional (if these were normal times). In contrast, the National Park Service was created by Congress in 1916 as a bureau under the Department of the Interior and is not part of the constitution.
There are plenty of independent agencies that are part of the federal government but outside the executive branch. This is intentional to keep partisan politics out of their operations. The Federal Reserve is a perfect example. While the chair and vice-chair of the Fed are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, their political leanings are usually set aside in the interest of maintaining the national monetary policy and controlling inflation by managing the economy to the best of the agency’s ability.
Some agencies generate revenue for the government, including the Fed mentioned above. Some agencies cost the government but for the good of the nation and its people. For example, nobody complains that our national defense costs money because having a robust military keeps us all safe. The total budget for the Department of Defense is around 1.7 trillion dollars. In contrast, the USPS cost the government around 9.5 billion dollars, out of a total budget of around 90 billion. The rest of the budget is covered by the income generated from the postage on envelopes and packages as well as some other fees.
Would it be nice if the postal service was totally self-funded? In an ideal world, absolutely. But the times have changed, and the postal service must change with it. Some of the ideas that were floated in the past to help the USPS be less reliant on federal appropriations included getting into banking, offering email services, or privatizing it so that it can cut costs without government oversight.
Here’s why that last idea is a bad one. Cutting costs could mean eliminating service to the extremely rural areas that cost a lot of money to reach. It’s not acceptable to think that the postal service only needs to deliver to 90% or 95% of the country, with the remaining 5-10% on their own or having to drive miles and miles to pick up their mail from a larger city or less remote area. The postal service was created in the constitution to serve everyone. No exceptions.
Another idea is to stop Saturday delivery. This would eliminate a number of jobs for the carriers who fill-in on the off-days of the regular carriers (called T-6 in USPS parlance). The T-6s deliver five different routes on their work days to cover other carriers on their days off. If you know your regular carrier well - as we do - then you usually know when they’re off because your mail comes at a different time of day than typical. In addition to putting a lot of carriers out of a job, eliminating Saturday delivery could also affect folks who get their prescriptions through the mail.
Soon-to-be-ex Postmaster General Louis DeJoy made some significant changes during his five-years in that position, including consolidating distribution centers and taking a more regional approach to mail handling. Our mail here used to go to a processing plant in Evansville, Indiana, near the airport - about a 30-minute drive. Now the mail goes to either Louisville (2 hours away) or Indianapolis (3 hours away). Problems at the Indianapolis processing facility have many customers frustrated.
Even mail addressed to the people next door has to travel 4-6 hours (plus processing time at the plant) before it gets to the carrier to be delivered to that neighbor’s mailbox. That’s not really more efficient, nor is it good for the environment.
While I’m DeJoy-ful that he’s leaving, I worry about who will become the next Postmaster General. Moving the USPS to the Department of Commerce and taking away its independence could cause real problems, including:
disallowing mail that the current administration disagrees with, like political mail from the opposing party;
delaying mail-in ballots during election season so that they aren’t delivered in time to be counted;
not delivering mail to people who are registered for the party out of power;
charging higher prices because price hikes would not need congressional approval;
refusing service to anyone that management disagrees with.
Other countries, including the U.K., Germany, and Japan, have privatized their mail services with few problems. However, they are geographically much smaller than the U.S. and do not have some of the physical challenges of getting mail delivered to rural areas. Yes, the USPS has its problems, but taking away its independence and allowing it to be controlled by the party in power will not solve them.
Why It’s Personal
My husband worked for the USPS for 25 years, from 1984 to 2009. He took an early retirement because attempts to transfer from Evansville, Indiana, where we were living, to California (to move closer to my aging parents) were unsuccessful. He gets a small pension as an annuitant (federalese for retiree) from the government, administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). We also get our Medicare supplement health insurance, as well as dental and vision insurance, through his postal retirement plan. And I receive coverage as his legal spouse.
What will happen to his pension if the USPS is moved to the Commerce Department, or if it’s privatized? Will the government continue its obligations to its retirees? Will we lose our healthcare (or will it just be me)?
We are good friends with our letter carrier Kevin. As a former carrier himself, my hubby is always curious to know how it is working at the post office now. We’ve heard some horror stories about the local management, but Kevin stays mostly positive because he knows that he’s got a good job, makes decent money for the area, and will have a decent retirement income in about 30 years. It’s not all fun, especially when the weather is bad, but he’s got a good attitude to survive the chaos.
We hope that Kevin isn’t negatively impacted if more changes are coming to the USPS. We hope we aren’t affected either. But there is definitely some anxiety when we think about what might happen. I would like the Postal Service to remain independent and free from political influence.