Time to fix Postal Service

Congress has plenty on its plate these days. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza and keeping the U.S. government funded are clear priorities. But one issue that has gone overlooked for too long is the need to fix the United States Postal Service. The USPS is not a government agency, but relies heavily on government funding. Just last year Congress approved $50 billion in funding for the post office. But still our postal system isn’t delivering mail in a timely fashion. Staffing shortages are widespread, and carriers are overworked. It is not an efficient system. It takes longer and longer for mail to arrive to our homes, if it arrives at all. I can go days with an empty mailbox. What I do get largely ends up in the trash. I just returned from a weeklong vacation and when I returned I pulled three issues of my favorite weekly magazine from my mailbox. The most recent issue, and the two previous ones, which likely sat in St. Paul for much of the week before finally getting sent to La Crosse. Even though there isn’t much to the mail these days, many people still rely on it to pay their monthly bills, to receive their prescription medications and of course the holiday packages. We deserve better. Congress should solve the most pressing problems, but also make the long overdue reform of the Postal Service a priority.