Senator Mike Rounds, US Senator for South Dakota | Official U.S. Senate headshot
Senator Mike Rounds, US Senator for South Dakota | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) have introduced legislation aimed at protecting rural postal processing facilities. The proposed law mandates that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) consider the consequences for rural areas during their closure or downsizing review process.
Currently, USPS reviews of processing facility closures do not require consideration of impacts on rural areas if efficiencies are gained. However, reviews of post office retail locations must assess whether closures align with USPS's obligation to provide effective and regular services to rural areas. This new legislation seeks to extend similar considerations to the closure or downsizing of processing centers.
"Rural mail services are a lifeline for residents of many communities across South Dakota," said Rounds. "The U.S. Postal Service should be required to consider the impact of closing processing facilities on rural residents, just as they consider it when closing retail locations."
Durbin echoed these concerns, stating, "If I drop a piece of mail off in Springfield to make it across town, why should it have to go all the way to St. Louis and back? Eliminating mail processing centers across our state without consideration for the impact on mail service and postal employees will only decimate USPS."
The bill is cosponsored by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
As part of its Delivering for America plan, USPS is reviewing every processing and distribution center nationwide with an aim to create efficiencies by reducing services at some centers and eliminating others. South Dakota hosts three such facilities: Huron, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls.
In February 2024, USPS finalized plans to move non-local processing from Huron to Fargo, North Dakota. Similarly, in April 2024, non-local processing from Sioux Falls was moved to Omaha, Nebraska.
Senator Rounds has actively voiced concerns about these changes through letters addressed to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in both April and May 2024. Following bipartisan pressure from senators, USPS announced a pause on downsizing mail processing facilities in South Dakota in May 2024.
For full bill text click HERE.
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