Monday, May 7, 2012

The Truth about Postal Reform


By Reed Anfinson
President of the National Newspaper Association
And Publisher of the Swift County (MN) Monitor-News

Now that US Senate has passed a bill, S 1789, to reform the ailing US Postal Service, critics are trying to disable the bill on its way to the House of Representatives.  Business Week recently catalogued unhappy stakeholders, including postal unions, postal management and some Republicans who wrongly think the bill burdens taxpayers.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, whose own bill awaits action in the House, blasted "special interests." But Business Week says, "Considering how many people are unhappy with the bill, it isn’t clear which special interests Issa is referring to."
Some see the Senate bill as the inevitable product of the sausage machine. But it is neither a budget buster nor processed meat. It is the expression of a better vision of the Postal Service.
If you consider that survival of the service means maintaining the circulatory system for a $1.1 trillion mailing industry - or in other words, making sure cash, greeting cards, packages and newspapers and magazines arrive on time, the Senate bill is good medicine.
Consider some of the alternative fixes.
Issa's bill would let USPS immediately end Saturday mail, close half the mail processing centers and thousands of post offices, and put a new board of political appointees in charge. The new board would be expected to trim workers' benefits and maybe wages, and direct the Postmaster General to favor profit over service.
At the other extreme might be Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, who wanted to keep everything open. Labor unions backing him say that USPS will heal as the economy heals. Then there is the White House's notion: to raise postage rates.
For Sens. Susan Collins, R-ME, and Joe Lieberman, I-CT, neither extreme is suited to long-term survival of USPS.
To many experts, Issa's approach is likely to frighten away businesses that mail. The Lieberman-Collins bill agrees that USPS needs a more flexible, less costly workforce. It keeps mail flowing through today's network while cost cutting is underway.  For example, they would end Saturday mail delivery in two years, but only if USPS has taken other big steps toward financial viability. They would allow the closing of postal plants now, if USPS preserves local mail delivery speed.
Is their bill the product of compromise, or of a different vision?
Consider:
--The Postal Service's plant-closing plan is based on a desire to amass more mail at automated urban centers, where costly machines sit idle much of the day. To optimize machines, USPS would haul mail much farther. But the hauling would slow the mailstream, particularly in small towns and rural areas that are far from mail plants and create a set of second-class citizens who would get and send mail more slowly than urban dwellers. It would also hamper smaller communities' quests for economic development.
- Many Americans say they wouldn't miss Saturday mail. But USPS builds its system around senders, not receivers. Who would be hurt by a 5-day delivery regime? Anyone who depends on timely mail delivery. Shutting down the system two days a week—three when Monday holidays occur—would create delay, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Then there are those who need prescriptions delivered when they are at home; small-town citizens who get the newspaper by mail and businesses needing 6-day cash flows.  
- Closing small post offices seems a no-brainer to city dwellers who spot those one-room POs at the roadside on the way to the beach.  Surely not all are needed. But rather than closing them entirely, USPS could have circuit-rider postmasters to open them a few hours a day. That is affordable if worker benefits are brought into line with the private sector. For those communities, a circuit rider could continue their links to the world.
- The Congressional Budget Office says the Senate bill would cost $33.6 billion, adding to the federal deficit. But postage-payers, not taxpayers, carry that burden. Taxpayers face a liability as the funder-of-last resort only if postage revenues dry up - which is more likely to happen if the mail slows to a crawl.
Finally, members of Congress may differ on how they see USPS. Is it a corporation?  Is it a government agency responsible for binding the nation together?
Fact: it is a Government-Sponsored Enterprise or GSE, more like Fannie Mae than like IBM or the Defense Department. It has to use business tools, but carry out a public mission. And it has enormous power in the marketplace. Consider, for example, its new Every Door Direct Mail program, which directly competes with many private businesses. Members of Congress who mistakenly see postal reform as an exercise in deregulating a company may actually unleash a powerful federal agency, while those who look to raising postage so generous worker benefits can continue could pull the plug on the economic engine that keeps jobs alive.
It isn't compromise that is needed, but a clear-eyed vision based on a full understanding of the needs of all whom the Postal Service serves. Postal management today has an impossible task, expected to accomplish business goals without the cost-controlling tools businesses have, and expected to achieve government ends without federal support. Congress owns this confusion. Only Congress can fix it and it will continue to need to fine-tune its solutions as communications cultures change. No bill passed today will avoid the need for legislation in the future.  Neither "deregulating" it nor hiking rates will get USPS to stability. Nor will abrupt and disruptive approaches to labor costs.
Senators Collins and Lieberman, along with co-sponsors Tom Carper, D-DE, and Scott Brown, R-MA, have devoted endless hours to understanding the challenge and to crafting the next steps toward fixing it. Their approach deserves considerably more respect than it is getting.




Thursday, March 22, 2012

Secret Study Reveals Potential for Huge Losses

Stunning news: The revenue losses the Postal Service would incur if its nationwide consolidation and closures plan was fully implemented are staggering. And this from the Postal Service's own marketing study: Read here.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Links to "Deliver the Mail" Summary Letter, Comments

A summary letter by South Dakota Newspaper Association regarding the results of the "Deliver the Mail" petition campaign can be found here.

Comments provided some of the South Dakotans who signed the "Deliver the Mail" petition campaign can be found here.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Congress Needs to Act on Postal Reform

News out today that the Huron mail processing center will close. Despite news reports, this is not a done deal. There is still a distinct possibility that this will not occur. Perhaps today's news is some bluffing on the part of the USPS to get Congress to act. We agree: The U.S. Senate needs pass comprehensive postal reform legislation - S. 1789. And pass it now to protect 6-day mail delivery and timely mail delivery all across South Dakota.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Thank you! Support for Deliver the Mail Continues

Thank you to everyone who has signed the “Deliver the Mail” petition and supported this campaign. To date, more than 800 South Dakotans have signed the online petition form. And, we’ve seen some great comments, such as these:

“A dependable, timely delivery mail system should be a product of our society, something we cannot do individually but jointly, for the benefit of all. Its value is beyond measure. Expecting it to be "profitable" is as unrealistic as asking Congress to prove its worth!”

“Saturday mail delivery is essential for many people in business and for those living in rural areas.”

“It is very important to have timely, 6 day mail delivery. People that live in the rural areas depend on the mail every day of the week except Sunday. Please continue our 6 day service.”

Friday, January 13, 2012

Support for "Deliver the Mail" Grows

Thank you to everyone who is signing the "Deliver the Mail" petitions either online here or at your local newspaper office. We are seeing tremendous support. Keep it up! Share with your friends and neighbors. Urge them to sign the petition.

Every day it becomes increasingly clear that we must do all we can to make sure the Postal Service and Congress hears our voice for timely, six day mail delivery in South Dakota. As important, we must continue to educate and inform our fellow South Dakotans about the necessity of timely mail delivery for our communities and economy.

Finally, great news: the North Dakota Newspaper Association has initiated a similar grass-roots campaign up north.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Sample Comments from Petitioners:

We are seeing many great comments from the hundreds of South Dakotans who are signing the "Deliver the Mail" petition. Here is a small sampling of the comments:

“We need to keep the 6 day postal delivery and also keep the mail processing centers open. Cutting service is no way for a service industry to thrive, or survive. There are other viable options.”

“As rural South Dakota ranchers we rely on our mail service to deliver our parts and veterinary supplies the next day. Not three or more days later. We need our mail delivered in a timely fashion. Living far away from available retailers it is necessary for the mail to deliver to us at least 6 days a week.”

“For those people who live in rural areas, limiting mail delivering to as little as three times per week, which it already is in some areas, would be a hardship, especially for those who receive medications in the mail, or rely on mail delivery for their businesses.”

“I choose to have my medications mailed to me from Pierre. What took under 2 days now takes 7. I have run out of necessary medications. I can see how this will not only adversely affect my family, but the businesses which are struggling to survive the economy and political stalemates that continue to plague us all. Find a better solution, than this radical discrimination against a rural state.”

“Postal Service needs to keep 6 day delivery and Congress needs to know this is a essenial part of everyday life and livelihood of some and part of backbone of our Country.”

“Please don't delay the mail. It is vital to our business.”

“Rural farm communities need their post office's open and 6 day a week delivery. A lot of legal and Farm Program paperwork has to be delivered on the second day of mailing.”

“6 day mail service is vitally important to me. My husband depend on this form of service for the delivery of our medications, we have been using this method for quite a number of years. And with the shortage of some medications, we have noticed a slower delivery time. We send all our payments by mail, no computer stuff for us, also receive a daily newspaper. If we lose a 6 day service, we will probably drop our newspaper, and this may be what others will do. That will affect the major newspapers, a loss for them. Any packages mailed from our address are sent and received through our daily mail service. Our 6 day mail service is a link to the outside world because we live in a very rural area of SD. We are highly dependent on our excellent mail carrier. Do not cut back on our mail service, nor our mail centers of Pierre and Rapid City; they are very vital to our very rural state. The Postal Service should have been doing some cutting within long ago. I would guess there are some very high wages paid to the people at the top, they need do some cutting back in these areas.”

“The Post Office is a service to the people, as important as railroads, airports, schools and many other things that are subsidized to hold together the fabric of the nation. The Post Office should not be required to show a profit any more than should the Army and Navy.”

“South Dakota needs to keep Dakota Central open! They process a lot of mail and to keep it going smoothly we need at least 2 processing plants. Keep Dakota central!”