House approves US Postal Service overhaul in rare show of bipartisanship – By The Associated Press (Oregonlive) / February 8, 2022
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt and would require it to continue delivering mail six days per week under bipartisan legislation the House approved Tuesday.
The election-year bill, coming at a time of widespread complaints about slower mail service, would also require the Postal Service to display online how efficiently it delivers mail to communities.
The Postal Service is supposed to sustain itself with postage sales and other services, but has suffered 14 straight years of losses. The reasons include growing workers’ compensation and benefit costs plus steady declines in mail volume, even as it delivers to 1 million additional locations every year.
Postal Service officials have said without congressional action, it would run out of cash by 2024, a frequent warning from the service. It has estimated it will lose $160 billion over the coming decade.
