Daines and Tester Urge USPS to Continue Service in Missoula
By Denise Rivette
U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester have sent letters to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging the United States Postal Service (USPS) to maintain current operations in Missoula to protect jobs and improve mail service in the community. The Postmaster General is currently considering the relocation of Missoula’s Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) to Spokane, Washington.
“I write to express my concerns regarding the United State Postal Service’s (USPS) current Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) of the Missoula Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC). I have serious concerns about potential out of state mail routing as well as any possibility of job losses in Missoula. While I appreciate the efforts of the USPS to modernize and improve services, I urge you to maintain existing operations at the Missoula P&DC as part of any future plans,” Daines wrote.
Read the full letter Daines sent HERE.
“The Missoula P&DC is a critical part of postal operations in Montana,” wrote Tester in his letter to Postmaster General DeJoy. “The center employs over a hundred Montanans and has served the community for decades. If processing were to be moved out of state, mail would get sent from Missoula more than 200 miles over two mountain passes to Spokane to be sorted before any of it is sent back to be delivered.”
Later in his letter, Tester cited the precarious drive over Lookout Pass on the border of Montana and Idaho, which is often closed to bad whether as a concern for potential future delivery delays.
Tester continued: “I fail to see how this transfer would result in improved postal service for Montanans. Our state’s small businesses rely on the mail system to send products to their customers and many folks rely on timely USPS service to send checks and mortgage payments to the bank. Mail delivery also effects our seniors in rural areas who rely on the postal service to deliver their life-saving medications and veterans who depend on the postal service to deliver their prescriptions and hard-earned federal benefits.”
“I urge you to halt any proposal to move Missoula operations to Spokane and refocus efforts on improving delivery standards in rural America,” concluded Tester.
Read Tester’s full letter to DeJoy HERE.
Tester and Daines have been leading the charge to hold the USPS accountable. In December, Tester pressed the Biden Administration to address staffing challenges and fill upcoming openings in United States Postal Service (USPS) leadership with people who have experience with postal matters in rural areas. In June, following months of discussions with Big Sky Post Office stakeholders and USPS, Tester secured a $229,000 per year increase in funding for the Big Sky Post Office to support continued services in the face of the area’s rapid population growth.
In April of 2022, Tester’s Postal Service Reform Act was signed into law, which ensures long-term, reliable mail service and put the USPS on sound financial footing. He has repeatedly pushed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on USPS policy changes that have delayed mail, threatened to undermine the agency, and harmed rural America. In 2020, Tester blew the whistle on USPS for removing dozens of mail collection boxes from towns across Montana, leading USPS to pause its removal of collection boxes nationwide until after the November election. Since the beginning of the pandemic, thousands of Montanans have contacted Tester to express concerns about mail delays and their effects on Montana communities.
Daines helped introduce a bipartisan package in May 2021 to support the United States Postal Service (USPS), ease its financial burdens, help it to better serve its customers and increase transparency, accountability, and efficiency within USPS. At the time he said, “The U.S. Postal Service is critical for Montana, especially for Montanans in rural communities, Montana seniors, Montana veterans and Montana small business owners. That’s why I’m teaming up with a group of my bipartisan colleagues to introduce a comprehensive bipartisan bill to help rejuvenate, revitalize and support the USPS. This bipartisan package will increase transparency and unleash the enormous potential of the Postal Service.” The package incorporated Daines’ bipartisan USPS Fairness Act which eliminates the unfair requirement that the Postal Service prefund retiree health benefits. Daines’ USPS Fairness Act was finally made law in 2022 when President Biden signed the The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 into law.
Both senators are working hard to represent Montanans. You can let them know your thoughts by contacting Senator Daines HERE and Senator Tester HERE.