Fixing a sabotaged institution is not always easy. In the case of the US Postal Service (USPS), relief is imminent. The Postal Services Reform Act of 2022 passed in the House and Senate with bipartisan support. President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law in the next few days. All the major stakeholders — labor, retirees, and management — were on board.
To set the scene, the USPS was originally the Post Office Department (POD) — a regular department of the federal government, funded by regular budget appropriations. The focus was on service to all residents of the US on an equal, affordable, and timely basis. Erosion of this commitment began in 1970.
The hackneyed cry of “running government like a business” provoked the separation of the POD into a separate, public corporation, the US Postal Service (USPS). The intent was to create a free-standing, business-like entity that would finance its own operations.
Repair of the US Postal Service, that is hysterical! The PAEA of 2006 was supposed to fix the USPS and make it profitable. How did that work out? The Postal ‘Reform’ Act of 2022 will be yet another giant failure. Let’s meet back in 5 years and see how this act is working.