WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would require the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to protect mail processing centers in rural communities by mandating a study on the consequences of downsizing or closing these facilities, which is already required before the closure of a storefront post office, but not forProcessing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs). The Postal Processing Protection Act would ensure that efficient service is not interrupted by the closure or downsizing of a mail processing center, especially as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s “Delivering for America” plan continues to dismantle the postal service and as President Trump threatens to put USPS under the control of the executive branch. USPS has operated as an independent entity since 1970.
USPS’s reviews of processing facilities do not require them to consider the impact on rural areas as long as the change gains efficiencies. However, USPS’s reviews of post office retail locations do require them to answer whether closing the location is consistent with their obligation to provide effective and regular postal services to rural areas. This legislation would require USPS to consider the impact to rural areas when closing or downsizing processing centers, just as they do with closing post office retail locations.
This bipartisan legislation is a response to the downsizing of P&DCs located in Peoria, Milan, and Springfield, Illinois, which has impacted the locations’ ability to process mail efficiently.
“If I drop a piece of mail off in Springfield to go across town, why should it have to go all the way to St. Louis and back? Postmaster General DeJoy’s ‘Delivering for America’ plan, which included downsizing three mail processing centers in our state, is decimating a service that Illinoisans rely on,” said Durbin. “I’m joining Senator Rounds to reintroduce the Postal Processing Protection Act to ensure that USPS leadership does its due diligence in studying the impact of consolidating or altering mail processing and shipping facilities before crippling critical USPS locations.”
“Rural mail services are a lifeline for South Dakotans,” said Rounds. “We must make certain that residents across our entire state are able to receive letters and packages in a timely manner. USPS is required to review impact to rural residents when closing a retail location, so it’s only right that they consider the impact for processing facilities as well.”
After the announcement of proposed changes to mail processing centers in March 2024, Durbin led his Illinois colleagues in sending a letter calling on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reconsider his decision to eliminate mail processing at P&DCs in Peoria, Milan, and Springfield. In their letter, the lawmakers noted that any move to alter operations at existing P&DC facilities in Illinois would only exacerbate delayed mail delivery in the state.
In March 2024, Durbin joined 20 of his Senate colleagues to urge Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to stop any changes to USPS service standards that would result in job losses and further degrade mail delivery performance, especially in rural areas.
Click HERE for full bill text.
