U.S. Representative Jack Bergman (R-MI-01) and Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) have introduced a bill to halt proposed changes for mail delivery in the Upper Peninsula and other areas of the country

The Protect Postal Performance Act is bipartisan legislation to halt the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) consolidation plans for Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DC) located in underperforming postal districts — such as the mail processing center in Kingsford that handles mail for the U.P.

Bergaman’s action come days after U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, convened a hearing to examine the U.S. Postal Service’s current service, operations, and finances, including oversight of changes to the Postal Service s network and their potential impacts on mail delivery. The committee heard from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and other key Postal Service officials on how proposed changes could impact mail service across the nation. The committee also heard about facility and transportation changes that have caused service declines in locations and discussed the impacts additional proposed changes could have on service in rural areas — including in the Upper Peninsula.

Bergman said the Postal Service does not understand the needs of the U.P.

“Bureaucrats in the U.S. Postal Service seem to have this misperception that they understand the delivery needs of the Upper Peninsula’s rural communities more than the people actually living there. My constituents rely on the Postal Service for the timely delivery of bills, payments, prescriptions, and other necessities, and they deserve a functional mail service, absent of manufactured delays caused by bureaucratic ineptitude. I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, for co-leading this critical bill – the Protect Postal Performance Act – to halt the Postal Service’s ill-conceived consolidation plans in areas where the agency is already underperforming,” said Bergman.

“Postmaster DeJoy has no business reducing mail processing capacity in areas that are already short staffed and struggling to receive mail on time. Today, I introduced bipartisan legislation that will halt these plans in Champaign and Springfield, and in under-serviced areas across the country,” said Rep. Budzinski. “I’m grateful to Congressman Jack Bergman for joining me in this important effort to protect local USPS jobs and push back on a misguided effort that could further impact poor postal delivery rates in our communities.”

Bergman has sent numerous letters to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy raising serious concerns about USPS’ plans to downsize the mail processing facility in Kingsford. The plans could mean worse delivery rates and the relocation of several jobs.

Bergman’s Protect Postal Performance Act would bar the USPS from downsizing processing facilities in regions that are failing to meet the USPS delivery targets of 90.3 percent on-time delivery for three-to-five-day first-class mail and 93 percent on-time delivery for two-day first-class mail. Northern Michigan and the U.P. currently experience a 75.2 percent on-time delivery rate for three-to-five-day mail and a 91.2 percent on-time delivery rate for two-day mail.