U.S.P.S. – Let’s Fix it!
We need your support!
What would it take to revamp the U.S. Postal service? The passage of House Resolution 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act.
According to the President of the Greeting Card Association, this is the first time in the last 3 years the House Committee on Oversight and Reform approved postal reform legislation that would stabilize their finances.
It would revise the retirement system and all future employees would be included in the Medicare system. Right now they have a private retirement system that is very expensive and is putting the service in financial jeopardy.
The Postmaster General, appointed by President Trump, has been making the hard decisions that a business would make. Looking at Profit and Loss statements, seeking to control costs and boost profits, the postal service is now generating a profit of $236 million through April, 2021. Those numbers include a small postal rate increase, if one is needed at all.
Hand written notes and greeting cards are still the backbone of the service. And the greeting card industry generates retail sales of seven to eight billions dollars annually. Besides blank cards, the most popular cards are: (in order of sales)
- Birthday
- Sympathy
- Thank You
- Wedding
- Thinking of You
- Get Well
- New Baby
- Congratulations
H.R. 3076 would establish a Postal Regulatory Commission to review the limits for rate increases once this legislation is enacted. The Greeting Card Association is in full support of this bill, and is working to encourage Congress to pass it into law before the end of September.
Your Help is Needed!
In an article in the Stationery Trends Magazine, September 2021 issue, Greeting Card Association President George White explained the need for Postal reform.
“The nickel price increase in 2019, which represented the largest increase in USPS history, reversed a three-year growth trend in mailed greeting cards … and led to a 15 percent decline in just one year.”
He went on to say, “Postal reform may seem like an issue far removed from the day-to-day operations of makers, industry suppliers, and card retailers, but when we consider that the USPS is the only viable delivery option for over half the cards sold, the importance of affordable postage and quality service becomes clear.
Greeting cards are among the most valued content of the mail stream, and the potential for receiving such personal mail is what keeps Americans checking their mailbox every day, so maximizing the volume of greeting cards and other personal correspondence in the mail is vital to the USPS.”
H.R. 3076 is the best chance to make a fundamental improvement in USPS’s core financial stability.
I hope you’ll take a moment to text your member of Congress and support this legislation. Text MAIL to 52886 – a direct message to your member of Congress.
I still write Thank You Notes and send cards of thanks in November each year. That hand-written, personal touch is needed in our world today.