Washington, DC – The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service (C21) today announced a new website that will serve as a clearinghouse of information urging Congress to pass the Postal Service Reform Act this fall. The coalition of businesses and industries tied to the mailing industry has launched www.21stcenturypostal.org which includes information about the economic benefits of the mail and the consequences of inaction on postal reform.
“Congress is losing sight of the peril facing companies if they ignore postal reform,” said Art Sackler, coordinator of C21. “Without congressional action, the Postal Service will likely proceed with major, unsustainable increases in postage rates. This action would push more companies away from using the mail, hastening a financial collapse of the Postal Service while hurting the economy and putting jobs at risk.”
C21’s website will help educate Americans about the importance of the mail to the American economy, and will encourage constituents to contact their Member of Congress to urge passage of the Postal Service Reform Act (HR 756). The bill, which received overwhelming support in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last March, would shift postal retirees to the Medicare system and save taxpayers more than $6 billion dollars, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The bill enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress and unprecedented unanimous backing by Postal Service leadership, the bulk of the private sector mailing industry and all four major postal unions. Nonetheless, it has stalled, necessitating an intensified push to ensure that Congress saves a system still essential to, and beloved by, the American public.
More than 7.5 million private sector workers have jobs that depend on the mail, according to a study by the Envelope Manufacturers Association Foundation. The same study found that the mailing industry contributes to the economy with $1.4 trillion in annual sales revenues. In June, more than 1,300 companies and trade associations signed a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee urging the committee, which also has jurisdiction over the bill, to move it forward.
###
The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service consists of business mailing associations and companies – including newspapers, advertisers and catalogers, e-commerce and parcels, greeting cards, financial services, telecommunications, insurance and other statement mailers, high-tech businesses, small businesses of every kind – and their suppliers – paper, printing, technology, envelope manufacturing, mail services and other companies, who understand the essential role played by the U.S. Postal Service and want to see it sustained, reformed and strengthened to meet the demands of the future.
