Resources
Economy & Jobs

8News: Virginia lawmakers want House and Senate leadership to include USPS in next relief package

May 28, 2020
Economy & Jobs
Good Governance
In the News
Infrastructure
Local Issues

8News, BASIL JOHN

If the U.S. government doesn’t provide new support, some lawmakers worry the United States Postal Service could fall apart.

“There are challenges to their long term fiscal stability,” Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger said.

Spanberger is part of a group of lawmakers calling for the postal service to be included in the next coronavirus relief package.

“We need to continue to support an institution that is both historic and vitally important,” Spanberger said.

Many businesses are struggling, but Virginia Congressman Don Beyer says the postal service problems are tied to an unusual mandate from Congress.

“The U.S Congress, some 15 years ago, decided it needed to spend $5 to $6 billion a year, pre-funding healthcare and retirement benefits for people who haven’t been hired yet, and many cases for people who haven’t been born yet,” Beyer said.

Beyer and Spanberger says without help from Congress, USPS could run out of funds by September.

“We’re so dependent, not so much for the personal letters, but for the good and services that we need,” Beyer said.

“We shouldn’t be on the brinkmanship of wondering whether or not our constituents are going to be able to get their mail, like literally their mail and everything in it that’s important to them, before we address this challenge,” Spanberger said.

If postal service help makes it into the next relief package, both representatives are confident the plan will find bipartisan support.

Recent Posts

Oct 11, 2024
Social Security, Medicare, & Retirement

NEW: Spanberger Pens Op-Ed Urging Colleagues to Vote to Pass Her Bipartisan Bill to Eliminate WEP & GPO

The Bipartisan “Social Security Fairness Act” Would Eliminate Two Provisions of the “Social Security Act” That Unfairly Reduce Benefits for Millions of Americans Who Have Devoted Much of Their Careers to Public Service Thanks to the Congresswoman’s Effort to Force a Vote on the Legislation, the “Social Security Fairness Act” Will Come to the U.S. […]

Oct 10, 2024
Energy & Environment

Spanberger Urges Speaker Johnson to Call U.S. House Back to Capitol Hill to Pass Emergency Appropriations Funding Following Hurricanes Helene & Milton

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger is urging U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to call Members of Congress back to Capitol Hill to pass supplemental appropriations funds to support Virginia’s communities and communities across the Southeastern United State in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. In a letter to Speaker Johnson, Spanberger and […]

Oct 10, 2024
Good Governance

NEW: Spanberger Ranked #1 Most Collaborative Member of Congress from Virginia, #3 in the Country

An “A” Bridge Grade is Given to Members of Congress Who Exemplify Governing Behaviors that Bridge Our Country Rather than Divide It WOODBRIDGE, Va. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger this week was ranked as the most collaborative Member of Congress from Virginia — and the third most collaborative lawmaker on Capitol Hill. Bridge Grades score […]