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Twenty state attorneys general filed a joint complaint on Friday in an attempt to block changes to the U.S. Postal Service passed last week by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that critics say are a clear effort to cripple the service. postal service from the interior by slowing delivery times while increasing the cost to consumers.
The formal complaint filed by the 20 MAs is directed to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which is charged with providing independent oversight of the USPS, but whose prosecution alleges it betrayed its mandate by allowing the plan controversial presented by DeJoy to enter into force. implemented October 1 without proper review.
According to a statement from the office of Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson:
The complaint details DeJoy’s failure to comply with federal law by making damaging changes to the postal service. Ferguson says these major changes to the postal service, which range from cutting hours of work, slowing first-class mail delivery and removing equipment, threaten swift mail delivery to millions of Americans who rely on the postal service for delivery of everything from medical prescriptions to ballots.
“Millions of Americans depend on the mail every day to receive their prescriptions, pay bills, receive Social Security checks, send rent payments and more,” Ferguson said in the statement. “A politically appointed person does not decide the fate of the Postal Service. There is a process that holds the American public to account for a reason – and I will fight to ensure that the public has a say.”
In addition to Washington, the complaint was supported by the attorneys general of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey , New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia and Rhode Island.
The AG’s prosecution comes amid a barrage of relentless criticism of DeJoy and demands for his ouster, as well as anger at the Postal Service Board of Governors, for presenting a plan that experts say the USPS, leads the way for the beloved agency. disappearance.
Like Christoper S. Shaw, author of the book First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Business Threat, wrote in an editorial for Common dreams last week, “While the old postmasters craved faster mail delivery, DeJoy stood out with his desire to make it slower.”
As Shaw’s article notes:
DeJoy says lowering service standards offers an exceptional opportunity to reduce costs, as transporting mail by land on trucks will prove to be cheaper than using air transport. The cost to US citizens and to the health of the long-term postal service is lost in this short-term calculation. Degrading service standards and giving up competitive advantages is not a formula for long-term relevance.
In response to the complaint, the USPS asserted that the filing “had no legal or factual basis” and said “the Postal Service intended to reject it in accordance with the rules” of the PRC process.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, however, said in a statement that DeJoy’s changes “are destroying the timely postal service that people depend on for drugs, bill payments and business operations in the regions. rural “of its state. According to Stein’s office:
The 10-year plan would undermine the postal service, including changes that enact slower service standards for first-class mail and other packages, change the location of post offices and adjust rates. The plan would slow down USPS standard delivery for 30 percent of mail from three to five days, increase the price of each piece of mail by six to nine percent, and implement those changes without doing anything to effectively respond to the larger service. postal. budget deficit.
The Postal Regulatory Commission is an independent federal body that oversees the operations of the postal service. Federal law requires the Postal Service to approach the Commission whenever it changes postal services that will affect the entire country. Attorneys General argue DeJoy failed to do so and that without proper scrutiny, DeJoy’s plan could lead to future mail delivery issues. Attorneys General are calling on the Commission to order the Postal Service to seek a full-scope review of the 10-year plan, giving states and the public an opportunity to comment.
“The Postal Service,” said Stein, “is a critical government service, and it cannot restructure itself without considering how these changes will affect millions of Americans.”
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