Do you know how much the secretary of defense makes per year? It is just a hair under $200,000. Now I want you to guess how much the postmaster general makes per year. Until lately he made almost twice what the secretary of defense makes. Sen. Jon Tester got a bill passed to reduce the post master general’s pay to what any other Level l employee of the Federal Government makes.
Meanwhile, the Postal Service wants to close up to 85 rural post offices and processing facilities in Montana. Make no mistakes, the Postal Service needs to be reformed but closing the post offices that serve the vast areas in between Billings, Bozeman, Helena, Butte, Missoula, Great Falls and the Flathead is not the right answer.
The same bill that Tester got passed in the Senate is now heading to the House. It saves at least 85 rural post offices in Montana from closure and sets procedures for the communities to have a voice in the decision to close a post office if it affects businesses and senior citizens. Hopefully, Congressman Denny Rehberg and his party realize how important it is to a community to have regular postal delivery and the ability to receive and send goods.
Diane Grove
Whitefish