Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced legislation to bolster protections for rural mail services across the country. For example, the Protect Postal Performance Act would put safeguards in place to keep the United States Postal Service (USPS) from moving mail processing operations from Reno to Sacramento without public oversight.
In April of 2024, USPS said it would relocate mail operations from Reno, Nevada to Sacramento, California. This misguided decision would have negatively impacted mail reliability – delaying the delivery of everything from prescription medications to ballots. USPS initially proceeded without providing information on the study that served as the basis for its decision or providing any analysis on local impacts of moving mail processing completely out of the State of Nevada. Senators Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) successfully pushed USPS to publicly commit to abandoning this plan, especially after it became clear that USPS did not understand the impact this move would have on Reno residents. This bill would prevent USPS from moving Reno’s mail processing operations – or the mail processing operations of any other small or rural community – without substantial community engagement.
“People rely on the postal service not just for birthday cards and thank you notes, but for the delivery of their lifesaving medications and time-sensitive bills and ballots,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Downsizing mailprocessing without thinking about the consequences can create unacceptable delays.Whether it’s Reno or any other community, people deserve to be involved in decisions about the future of their mail.”
“Consolidating mail processing facilities slows down the delivery of life-saving prescriptions and other important mailed items for hardworking Tennesseans in rural communities,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Protect Postal Performance Act would put safeguards in place to ensure reliable service for our families, farmers, veterans, and small businesses who depend on the mail every single day.”
Specifically, the Protect Postal Performance Act would:
- Require USPS to obtain an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) before changing operations at mail processing facilities;
- If the PRC finds a proposed change would slow on-time delivery, USPS must publish a report explaining how it will maintain delivery standards;
- Require USPS hold a public hearing (in-person or virtual) before closing or consolidating a post office during a 60-day review period;
- Prohibit the closure or consolidation of a post office if it is more than 15 miles from any other post office or if it is the closest post office serving 15,000 or more people;
- Mandate that USPS cannot close, consolidate, or downgrade a facility if it would leave a geographically separate region with more than 100,000 residents without a facility.
The full text of the bill can be found here.
Senator Cortez Masto has consistently pushed to ensure first-class letter mail is processed in Nevada. She fought alongside bipartisan members of the Nevada delegation in an ultimately successful push to ensure former USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy abandoned his ill-advised plan to relocate outgoing mail processing operations from Reno to Sacramento. In 2025, when there were reports that USPS would restart the relocation plan, Senator Cortez Masto demanded that it recommit to keeping local mail in Nevada
