The Postal Service, already under severe financial stress for years, has encountered another major stressor in the coronavirus pandemic. The combined effects of the preexisting problems and those prompted by COVID-19, puts USPS — in its own projections — into insolvency at the best in October of 2021, and at the worst, next March. Something must be done.
USPS remains invaluable to the country — especially now. A mainstay for delivering staples, PPE and other supplies, as well as stimulus, IRS refund and social security checks, personal correspondence, prescriptions and medical supplies, census forms and more, the country would be at a loss without it. Especially in rural areas, where there is frequently little or no broadband, and postal competitors are rarely seen, the Postal Service provides a lifeline to communities all over the United States. It also provides a lifeline to small businesses everywhere.
What level of cash the Postal Service might need to stay afloat needs to be determined by experts in and outside of the institution and Congress, but at the very least it should receive whatever amount would reimburse it for revenues lost to COVID-driven reasons, and additional expenses necessary to cope with a sanitized, socially distancing world.
Without help, it is only a matter of a relatively short amount of time before USPS goes insolvent and must begin cutting service, if not turning out the lights altogether.
Congress must act, and the sooner the better.