Washington, DC – The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service (C21) today urged the U.S. Senate to move quickly in considering the new nominees to be U.S. Postal Service Governors. The nominees: Calvin Tucker of Pennsylvania: Robert Duncan of Kentucky: and David Williams of Illinois, were announced earlier today by The White House.
“The Postal Service Governors have key administrative and oversight responsibilities that have been going unmet. We believe it is essential that the Senate rapidly consider these nominees so that the Postal Service can function fully as intended,” said Art Sackler, coordinator of C21.
The coalition of businesses and industries tied to the mailing industry also urged the nominees to understand how higher postage rates could hurt the Postal Service, the tens of thousands of companies that rely on the mail, and millions of American consumers.
“The Governors by law decide whether to ask for and implement any potential increase in postage rates, so long as they meet any statutory constraints. We hope these nominees will understand that increases in postage, and especially major ones, would push more companies away from using the mail, and those that already are converting mail into digital communications to do it faster. This will pile damage onto an already ailing postal bottom line,” said Sackler.
More than 7.5 million private sector workers have jobs that depend on the mail, according to a recent study by the Envelope Manufacturers Association Foundation. The same study found that the mailing industry contributes $1.4 trillion in annual sales revenues to the economy.
C21 is strongly urging Congress to pass the Postal Service Reform Act (HR 756) swiftly. The bill received overwhelming support in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last March, and would shift postal retirees to the Medicare system saving taxpayers more than $6 billion dollars and Postal Service $10s of billions more when its finances badly need stabilizing, 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.
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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.
