Magazine media publishers are standing up for readers – and all Americans – when it comes to protecting what all of us love about the U.S. Postal Service. For a variety of reasons, this great American institution is under stress. Service is declining, while postal rates have gone up, putting the Post Office on the verge of catastrophic mail volume decreases.
When Americans open their mailboxes, they find that vital mail, including prescriptions and Social Security checks, as well as eagerly awaited mail, like magazines, are arriving late. At the same time, they are paying more for many items because the Postal Service is charging mailers more. A rate increase imposed in August of 2021 increased mailers postage costs much higher than the already high rate of inflation.
As major mailers with customers in every city and hamlet across the nation, magazine media publishers have a good handle on what ails the Postal Service. We continue to work closely with Congress on vital reform legislation that can help right the Postal Service ship and place it on a sustainable financial footing for the future. Americans shouldn’t have to accept declining mail service and higher costs. Congress can enact reforms that address the underlying issues while holding the line on rates and without subsidies from taxpayers. Publishers are working hard to ensure this gets done.
In particular, MPA strongly supports reform provisions that would reduce costs and improve productivity through a critical examination of the current inefficient flat-mail processing system. MPA also supports sensible reforms to the Postal Service’s retirement system that would integrate postal worker retirees into the Medicare system and eliminate the requirement that retirement benefits be pre-funded well in advance, something no other government agency – or U.S. company – is required to do. Finally, and importantly, MPA is urging Congress to place guardrails on postage rate hikes, to keep rates affordable and mail flowing through the system.
Watch this space over the next few months for news on how magazine media publishers and Congress are advancing vital Postal Service reform legislation.