With the U.S. House of Representatives unlikely to vote on a postal reform bill before August recess, it’s unclear whether comprehensive legislation to address the U.S. Postal Service’s deep financial woes will make it out of Congress this year.
Last week, Montana Sen. Max Baucus expressed concern that lack of congressional action could harm rural post offices and mail processing centers, including a facility slated for closure in Kalispell.
Baucus also wondered about the impact on November’s elections in states like Montana that rely heavily on mail ballots, though a Postal Service spokesperson said mail-processing centers won’t be consolidated until the beginning of 2013.
Baucus has been an outspoken advocate for postal reform that protects rural areas, going as far as bringing Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to Montana to show him firsthand the importance of postal facilities in lesser-populated states.
In April, the Senate passed a bill to reform the Postal Service, which has been in dire financial straits and seeking ways to remain viable. The Postal Service has looked at various cost-cutting measures, including the closure and consolidation of certain rural post offices and mail-processing centers.
Baucus included a measure in the Senate bill that would ensure no postal facility can be closed prior to Nov. 13 “in a state that conducts all elections by mail or permits no-excuse absentee voting,” a description that includes Montana. He has urged the House to pass a bill containing that provision.
Then in May, the Postal Service announced a plan to close or consolidate up to 140 mail-processing centers by February 2013. Under the plan, Kalispell’s processing facility would be closed and consolidated with Missoula’s processing center, leading to longer waits for mail in the Flathead Valley.
Though it was originally reported that the Kalispell mail-processing center would be closed this summer, Pete Nowacki, a spokesperson for the Postal Service, said no action will be taken until after Jan. 1, 2013. Kalispell is the only processing facility slated for consolidation in Montana.
“We’re holding up through the fall election season until after the first of the year,” Nowacki said. “Fall is important to our customers and it’s important to us.”
Nowacki also said after Labor Day the Postal Service will initiate a public process that could lead to reduced operations at thousands of rural post offices across the country. The process may take up to two years.
In a statement to the Beacon last week, Baucus said he will continue making efforts to keep Kalispell’s center open and protect other Montana facilities.
“We fought hard in the Senate to pass a common sense bill that will protect Kalispell’s facility and the 20 jobs on the line,” Baucus said. “I hope the House will join this effort to come up with a long term solution to the Postal Service’s serious fiscal problems.
“In the meantime, I’m going to keep fighting for ways to make sure the Postal Service is not unfairly targeting Montana.”
Baucus’ office believes processing centers in other Montana towns that appeared to be safe will be back on the chopping block as early as next year without legislation. Those include facilities in Butte, Helena and Wolf Point.
Nowacki said there are currently no plans to consolidate those facilities. Without legislation from Congress, Nowacki said the Postal Service will move forward as planned.
“At this point we have to conduct business as we see best,” he said.