Golden, Pfluger introduce bipartisan bill to freeze mail processing facility consolidations

WASHINGTON — Congressmen Jared Golden (ME-02) and August Pfluger (TX-11) today introduced the Timely Mail Delivery and Postal Services Protection Act, which would freeze consolidation of mail processing facilities by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The bill comes after Golden sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Thursday denouncing USPS’ decision to reduce operations at the Eastern Maine Processing & Distribution Facility in Hampden.

“No matter where they live, Americans deserve timely and efficient mail delivery,” Golden said.“Reducing local mail processing capacity and requiring mail to travel farther before reaching its recipient will make the Postal Service worse, particularly for rural communities where timely deliveries are a lifeline. It’s clear that Congress needs to stop these consolidations and hold the decision-makers involved accountable.” 

“The USPS plan to scale back operations at crucial processing sites nationwide, such as the facility in Midland, Texas, would significantly impact those dependent on the Postal Service for essential services like business transactions, educational materials, voting processes, vital medications, and bill payments,” Pfluger said. “I am honored to collaborate with Congressman Golden in spearheading pivotal legislation aimed at safeguarding rural communities' access to reliable and punctual mail delivery services.”

USPS’ Mail Processing Review program was unveiled in 2021 to study the feasibility of relocating certain postal operations from local facilities to larger regional sites. The USPS first announced that it was reviewing consolidation of some mail processing from the Eastern Maine facility into its Scarborough site last November, and its decision to move forward with the plan follows a February public hearing that garnered widespread opposition from Mainers across the state. 

Last week, Golden announced that he would release legislation to eliminate funding for the Mail Processing Facility Review process, effectively blocking the USPS’ plans to shift mail processing from Hampden to Scarborough. The Timely Mail Delivery and Postal Services Protection Act would also require any future consideration of consolidation to be reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent and bipartisan oversight panel composed of members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.  

Golden’s letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy follows repeated outreach by Golden to DeJoythroughout the review of the Hampden facility to express concerns about the agency’s consolidation process, and to demand answers about what steps the agency was taking to prevent mail delays and job losses in the Second District. 

Full text of the legislation can be found here, and Golden’s letter is also included below in full:

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April 11, 2024

Mr. Louis DeJoy
Postmaster General
United States Postal Service 4
75 L ’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, D.C. 20260-1000

Dear Postmaster General DeJoy:

I write, in the strongest terms, to express my opposition to the announced consolidations being made throughout the country by the United States Postal Service (USPS), including at the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Hampden, Maine.

Improving and modernizing mail processing and distribution centers (P&DC) is an admirable goal. But your proposals through the Delivering for America (DFA) have been met with universal concern and condemnation in Maine, in part because of your failure to address concerns about reduced service and delayed deliveries.

Rural communities rely on timely service to pay bills, get medicine, and keep in touch with loved ones. For you to move forward with the decision to transition the Eastern Maine P&DC to a Local Processing Center and moving outgoing mail processing to Southern Maine, despite the overwhelming opposition from Mainers, businesses, and USPS employees, shows a disturbing lack of awareness and care for the people of Maine’s Second Congressional District.

The Postal Service is an essential service to this country. The DFA risks undue harm to delivery times and puts reliable mail service for many Americans at risk.

Given your previous lack of timely response and indifference to the concerns of my constituents, it’s clear that legislation is the best course of action to protect mail service for Mainers and Americans across the country whose service is threatened by the DFA.

Rural Americans shouldn’t be an afterthought to your agency. That’s why I am introducing legislation to freeze the Mail Processing Facility Reviews and to subject any future, similar plans to independent review so that no Americans have to worry about timely mail delivery.

Sincerely,

Jared F. Golden
Member of Congress

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