Senator Hoeven meets with USPS leadership

GRAND FORKS, N.D. ( KXNET ) — Senator John Hoeven and the U.S. Postal Service Minnesota-North Dakota District Manager, Angela Bye, hosted a roundtable discussion Monday.

The purpose of this first-of-its-kind meeting was to discuss proposed changes to regional mail processing and efforts to improve mail service across North Dakota and comes as part of Hoeven’s ongoing efforts with USPS to address mail service concerns in the state.

One of the main topics discussed was the audit conducted by the USPS Inspector General’s office into our district earlier this year. That audit focused on five primary concerns: delayed mail, package scanning, arrow keys, staffing, and property conditions. Deficiencies were found in each of these categories at a district-wide level.

Any changes due to the audit could come as early as November of this year, but a bipartisan effort is working to make sure those changes don’t negatively impact mail services. That bipartisan effort has called for the USPS to pause the Mail Process Facility Review until after January 1st of next year, including proposed changes to processing in Grand Forks and Bismarck.

The USPS has agreed to open a process with the Postal Regulatory Commission to review the impacts of the proposed changes.

Senator Hoeven also signed on as a sponsor of two bipartisan bills to help ensure reliable, timely mail service, The Deliver for Democracy Act and the Postal Delivery Accountability Act.

The Deliver for Democracy Act , introduced by Senators Peter Welch (D-V.T.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), will help ensure timely delivery of all mail, including local newspapers, by the USPS and limit rate increases. The bill would require USPS to either achieve at least a 95% on-time delivery rate for periodicals, or show an improvement of at least 2 percentage points to unlock its 2% surcharge authority for that class of mail.

The Postal Delivery Accountability Act , introduced by Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is aimed at improving USPS delivery tracking and accountability systems.

In a statement, Senator Hoeven said the day’s roundtable discussion was about “transparency, public engagement and, importantly, ensuring timely mail service for households and businesses across the state who rely on USPS every day.”

“Between the OIG audit and the pause to mail processing, we’ve made important progress in addressing issues with local mail service, but more needs to be done. We look forward to all of the audit recommendations being implemented in North Dakota and welcome news that the Postal Regulatory Commission will be reviewing any changes made to mail processing to prevent negative impacts. That’s key, whether people are waiting on medications, bills or their local newspapers,” said Hoeven.

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