Sen. Peters, Rep. Slotkin Speak On $25 Billion Postal Service Legislation

The U.S. House met over the weekend to pass $25 billion in new funding for the U.S. Postal Service. 

“We’ve been working aggressively [to fix issues with the Post Office]. To be perfectly honest, the Republicans simply walked away.” — Sen. Gary Peters

The legislation would also block operational changes to USPS until after the November election. The bill isn’t likely to pass the Senate and the president has said he’d veto it if it reaches his desk.

Listen: Michigan lawmakers on problems at the U.S. Postal Service. 

Guests

Jake Neher/WDET

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat representing Michigan’s 8th District, says she has been bombarded with countless stories from constituents about mail slowdowns.

“My constituents aren’t trying to score political points, they’re looking to get their prescription drugs,” says Rep. Slotkin on mounting complaints about the Postal Service. She says past law establishing strict funding guidelines for the USPS constricted the House’s package passed over the weekend. “We voted on this big number because it’s what it takes to fully fund the post office under the legal constraints they were put under in 2006,” Slotkin says. 

Jake Neher/WDET

Senator Gary Peters says the Postal Service should not be a partisan issue, especially since typical supporters of the president are acutely impacted by the service slowdowns.

“Rural areas in particular are dependent on the postal service,” says Peters. He says that Republicans are unwilling to work to fix existing issues with the United States Postal Service in part because they would like mail services to be privatized. “We’ve been working aggressively [to fix issues with the Post Office]. To be perfectly honest, the Republicans simply walked away.”