skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

AZ Groups Back Measure to Reform Postal Service

play audio
Play

Friday, July 9, 2021   

PHOENIX -- Supporters and customers of the U.S. Postal Service in Arizona and elsewhere are pressing for Congress to pass a bill to shore up the troubled agency.

Two versions of the bipartisan 2021 Postal Reform Act are winding their way through committees in the U.S. House and Senate.

John McHugh, a former congressman from New York who served as Secretary of the Army until 2015, who is now the chairman of the Package Coalition, a group of businesses including Amazon and eBay that rely on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver their goods, said the bill would allow the Postal Service to restructure its crushing pension obligations without cutting benefits to current retirees.

"That'll give them the opportunity to right the ship, from a budgetary perspective," McHugh explained. "To make those critically important overdue investments into their infrastructure, their truck fleet, into the kinds of things that will help them become more efficient, more effective and more affordable."

The bill would also lock in the Postal Service's commitment to continue delivering mail and packages Monday through Saturday to more than 160 million addresses across the U.S. The agency has requested another postage rate hike, which could go into effect in August.

McHugh pointed out if the Postal Service is forced to raise prices, private package carriers would benefit and Arizona businesses, especially those in rural areas, would lose access to affordable delivery service.

"They rely upon packages for everything from prescription drugs to essential household goods, to food," McHugh outlined. "So that's a capability that we think is critically important and needs to be preserved."

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are more than 500,000 small businesses in the state that employ more than 1 million Arizonans.

McHugh thinks losing Postal Service access could cost thousands of workers their jobs.

"There are those, particularly private express carriers that compete against the Postal Service in this area, who would like to see the Postal Service become less efficient, so that they can increase their prices," McHugh contended.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took over during the Trump administration, supports the reform bill. He has proposed a 10-year plan, which would emphasize the more profitable package-delivery business.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021