U.S. Rep. Lawrence, 30-Year USPS Veteran, Helps Facilitate Passage of Postal Service Reform Act During House Oversight Mark-Up

Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14), a 30-year veteran of the United States Postal Service, praised the House Committee on Oversight and Reform for the passage of two Postal Service reform bills-the Postal Service Reform Act and the Postal Service Improvement Act. Rep. Lawrence introduced the Postal Service Improvement Act with House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) and Subcommittee on National Security Chairman Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08).

'After working at the United States Postal Service for 30 years, I'm honored to fight for the more than 600,000 dedicated Postal Service employees. These reform bills are both critical to helping the Postal Service overcome financial constraints by eliminating an unfair pre-funding mandate, while also allowing the agency to enter into non-Postal revenue agreements to further expand opportunities for growth. After nearly a year of inconsistent, and sometimes nonexistent, mail delivery, this legislation also mandates the creation of an online tool to track delivery performance,' said Rep. Lawrence. 'If we do not make every effort to affirm the Postal Service's commitment to its performance, it will chip away at the foundation of what makes the agency-the most popular in the federal government-so great. I'm glad to see the two bills I helped craft pass through committee, and I look forward to them getting a vote on the House floor.'

The bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act makes needed financial and operational reforms to the United States Postal Service, including eliminating the pre-funding mandate, integrating employees into Medicare, providing flexibility for the agency to pursue non-Postal related revenue sources, and maintaining an online, publicly available dashboard to track service performance.

The Postal Service Improvement Act helps the Postal Service more efficiently and effectively manage mail-in ballots in federal elections by requiring all mail-in ballots to include a Postal Service trackable barcode and other stylistic requirements to make ballots easier to sort and track.