No more 'snail mail': Sen. Schumer aims to overhaul USPS

(WSYR-TV) -- It has been called ‘snail mail’ but Sen. Chuck Schumer is hoping to make that a thing of the past. Sunday, Sen. Schumer announced a vote that would bring a $50 billion overhaul to the United States Postal Service (USPS). 

“The Post Office is quite simply one of the most important institutions of American life,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “Every day, tens of millions of Americans—veterans, small businesses, people living in rural communities, seniors—rely on the Postal Service for their medicines and prescriptions, for getting essential goods, for voting, for correspondence, for their livelihoods, and to get close to one another on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, and things like that.” 

Schumer adds that the overhaul is long overdue and its over-strained budgets have hampered its effectiveness, especially in Upstate New York. 

One of the key pillars of this bill, as reported by NPR, is to require employees to enroll in Medicare to cutdown on premiums. NPR estimates that move along would save USPS around $22.6 billion over the next decade. 

Other stats pointed out by Schumer in his push for a postal reform vote include:  

Size/background 

• 249.9 million mail pieces daily 
• Prices: 
  • Global average 
    • $1.23 
  • U.S. 
    • $0.55 
  • 46% of the world’s mail is processed and delivered by USPS 

Medication 

• The VA sends 80% of medication through the mail 
• 17% of Medicare recipients (7 million people) received at least 1 medication through the mail 
• Some insurance companies also encourage mail orders by giving customers price deals  

Small businesses 

• A 2019 report found that 70% of microbusinesses had utilized USPS in just the last 6 months 
• UPS and FedEx are not as cost effective for small businesses 
• Etsy requested congress to provide emergency funding for USPS 
  • 91% of Etsy’s 2.8 million sellers use USPS to ship their products 

Mail in voters 

• 2020 : 43% of voters cast their ballots by mail 
• Over 43 million voters 

Social Security 

• Each year social security sends 350 million notices through mail 
  • 27% of people 65 and older don’t use the internet 
  • Older adults like to pay their bills in paper checks instead of through an online system