Sen. Chuck Schumer

U.S. Senator and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he will push for a vote this week on the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.

Schumer said the $50 billion dollar overhaul of the agency was needed to save it and that waiting any longer could cripple the service beyond repair.

He said mail service across the state has become frequently late or regressed compared to years past, which hurts people who rely on the service for prescriptions, essential goods, small business, voting and more.

Schumer said the bipartisan postal reform bill will guarantee delivery services continue six days a week and put the Post Office on a path back towards solvency.

As reported by NPR, key parts of the bill include requiring Postal Service employees to enroll in Medicare, which would cut down on premiums. Currently, about a quarter of retired postal workers do not enroll in Medicare, even when they are eligible. This is estimated to save approximately $22.6 billion over 10 years.

Congressman Tom Reed gave an update on the U.S. Postal Service plus comments on the STOCK Act in his weekly media call.

Tom Reed

Congressman Tom Reed, who voted in favor of the bill, said the reforms proposed by the Post Master General will go a long way in stabilizing the Post Office, “Making sure they’re pre-funding requirements with their retirement obligations is taken care of. Making sure that through Medicare and a transition policy for their retiree benefits exposure are taking care of in a way that allow them to manage the Post Office’s liabilities and future liabilities in a way that allows the Post Office a ten-year window, essentially, to get their fiscal house in order.”

The House Oversight Committee said these measures would save the agency nearly $50 billion over the next decade.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to take up the long-sought legislation before the end of next week.