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Congressman Neguse’s $25 Billion USPS Relief Proposal Passes the House

August 24, 2020

U.S. House of Representatives holds emergency weekend session to address mail delivery issues at USPS

Washington D.C—Today, Congressman Joe Neguse’s proposal to provide $25 billion in relief funds to the U.S. Postal Service passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support. Congressman Neguse initially proposed the plan in March when he introduced the Protect Our Post Offices Act to help financially-strapped post offices maintain on-time deliveries amidst the pandemic and equip their employees with PPE. After uproar from Americans across the country in the last few weeks over troubling operational changes implemented by the U.S. Postmaster General, the House came in for an emergency legislative session this morning to address these concerns. The House approved the Delivering for America Act, which will provide $25 billion in relief and stop operational changes from going into effect that could undermine the Postal Service and the November elections. Congressman Neguse presided over the vote, view him call the vote tally here.

“The U.S. Postal Service is a pillar of our democracy, enshrined in the Constitution and essential for providing critical services to all Americans. Now more than ever as our nation faces the once-in-a-century health and economic crisis of COVID-19, millions of Coloradans are relying on USPS for the delivery of prescription medications, Social Security payments, paychecks, Census forms, and ballots, including in the rural and remote areas of our state,” said Congressman Joe Neguse. “The President’s blatant sabotage of USPS is a threat to lives, livelihoods and our American democracy, and we will not stand for it. I’m proud to help pass the Delivering for America Act today which will provide $25 billion in much-needed emergency relief for USPS—something I proposed back in March—and stop dangerous operational changes that both undermine our democracy and the safety of Coloradans.”

View the Congressman’s remarks in support of the bill here.

H.R. 8015, the Delivering for America Act will:

  • Prohibit the Postal Service from implementing or approving any changes to the operations or service levels in effect on January 1, 2020, that would impede prompt, reliable, and efficient service. The prohibition remains in effect during the duration of the coronavirus public health emergency or January 2021, whichever is later;
  • Require the Postal Service to treat all election mail as first-class mail; and
  • Provide $25 billion in critically-needed emergency appropriations for the Postal Service—the level of funding recommended by the USPS Board of Governors, which is composed of 100 percent Trump appointees.