May 31, 2024 | By: Lakeland News

Klobuchar, Stauber Introduce Bill to Improve Mail Delivery in Northern MN

A bipartisan effort is underway by Minnesota legislators in Washington, D.C. to improve mail delivery in northern Minnesota.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Congressman Pete Stauber announced yesterday the introduction of the Rural Mail Delivery Improvement Act. The legislation would require the United States Postal Service to implement all the recommendations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) following their audit of the Bemidji Post Office.

“Minnesotans rely on the Postal Service to deliver their prescriptions, Social Security checks, and more, and they need and deserve timely service. The recent Inspector General’s report that I called for confirmed significant delays and service disruptions for those who rely on the Bemidji Post Office,” said Klobuchar in a press release. “That’s why Rep. Stauber and I are leading bipartisan legislation that requires the Postal Service to act on all of the Inspector General’s recommendations, which will improve operations for Bemidji residents, those in the surrounding communities and beyond.”

“The USPS has been having problems for a while and I have repeatedly asked their leadership to fix these issues, but my requests seem to fall on deaf ears,” stated Stauber. “Enough is enough. Decisive action must be taken immediately to improve the efficiency and reliability of mail delivery, which is why I am proud to introduce legislation requiring USPS to enact all five of the recommendations made by the OIG after their comprehensive audit of the Bemidji Post Office. I thank Senator Klobuchar for joining me in this effort.”

Last November, United States Postal Service carriers held a picket and symbolic strike outside of the Bemidji Post Office to raise awareness about their work environment and concerns about delivering mail to the community. Rural mail carries said they were short-staffed and unable to perform their jobs, and that they were being forced to work 12-hour shifts while also delivering packages for Amazon.

The OIG audit found severe management failures contributed to critical postal service disruptions in Bemidji and the broader Minnesota-North Dakota district. The problems included around 80,000 pieces of delayed mail.

The Office of Inspector General report made five recommendations. Stauber and Kobuchar say the USPS currently disagrees with two of those recommendations:

  • Obtain and consider district and local management input on their ability to deliver all mail when assessing new opportunities for new projected drop shipment package volume.
  • Develop and implement procedures to promptly communicate to district and local management any expected new drop shipment mail volumes and start dates for large shippers.

This legislation would require the postal service to act on all five.

Earlier this week, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said she sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding accountability on the management failures, saying it was “imperative that USPS leadership takes immediate action” to address these issues and restore trust in the postal system.

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