On Feb. 8, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation that would make financial and operational reforms to the U.S. Postal Service to help keep it in service for many years to come.

The House passed the bill 342-92, with 120 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

The Postal Service has operated at a net annual loss for more than a decade and is projected to run out of money to operate by 2024. Its increasingly worsened financial viability was largely due to declining mail volume, a requirement by Congress to pre-fund retiree health benefits, and unfunded liabilities and debt.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by Congress in 2006 and signed into law required the Postal Service to create a $72 billion fund to pay for its post-retirement health care costs 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.

The legislation passed by the House would help the Postal Service save money by eliminating the existing requirement to pre-fund retiree health benefits, which is projected to save around $27 billion over a decade, and by requiring future Postal Service retirees to enroll in Medicare, which could save about $23 billion.

It would establish new service performance transparency and delivery standards for the Postal Service, which experienced significant backlogs in 2020 after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy implemented changes and the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased demand for mailed packages.

Americans, especially in rural areas, have relied heavily on the Postal Service during the pandemic for delivering everything from supplies to prescription drugs to mail and magazines. Extending a lifeline to the U.S. Postal Service makes sense, especially considering 80% of Americans like the U.S. Postal Service, according to a recent poll, and they want to see it continue.

The reforms in the legislation would include requiring the Postal Service to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week. The agency would also have to develop a public online dashboard with service performance data updated on a weekly basis, as well as provide semiannual reports to Congress on the implementation of its strategic plan.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., has introduced a companion bill in the Senate that has 14 Republican sponsors, more than the minimum of 10 Republicans needed to break a filibuster.

“Given the significant, bipartisan support for the same bill in the Senate, I expect to move quickly to vote on these critical reforms that will help ensure the Postal Service’s long-term success,” Peters said in a statement following the House vote.

Let’s hope the bill passes quickly in the Senate. President Joe Biden has indicated he would sign the bill into law. This will give Americans peace of mind that the service they pay for and rely on will continue.