Manchin pushes bill to keep post offices open
CHARLESTON -- After spending several days touring U.S. Postal Service facilities in West Virginia, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said his bill to keep post offices open during the COVID-19 pandemic is vital as the new Postmaster General reverses his plans for cuts.
"The United States Post Office's support, or lack of support, from this administration is beyond my wildest belief that this could even happen in America," Manchin said. "It's the lifeline of most West Virginians and especially in rural America and all over this country."
Manchin spoke with reporters Tuesday about his recent tour and the Protect Our Services Today (P.O.S.T.) Act, a bill Manchin has co-sponsored with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., which mandates the USPS cannot close post offices during the pandemic.
"All it says … is you're not going to close any post offices during this pandemic, you're not going to cut back hours, you're not going to take machines offline that are there to process the mail in a timely fashion," Manchin said. "These are the things we are fighting for … it's a shame we're at loggerheads and our leadership can't get its act together."
Manchin visited four postal facilities in West Virginia Friday, and visited a distribution center in South Charleston Monday, where he witnessed three mail sorting machines out of service and another sorter on its way to be placed out of service. Manchin wrote a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding that the sorters be put back into service.
As a U.S. senator since 2010, Manchin has long used his congressional platform to fight against closures of post offices in West Virginia, particularly in rural areas. In 2011, Manchin was able to successfully lobby against the closure of 150 post offices in West Virginia. Former President Barack Obama was an advocate for cutting Saturday deliveries in order to cut down on expenses due to the decrease in first-class mail.
Manchin's recent focus on post offices is due to memos placed in five post offices in West Virginia warning of closures by the end of August. The Postal Service confirmed that the memos were a mistake, but that they were looking at a review of post offices, with 12 facilities being reviewed and another 24 that could have hours reduced, though there have been no details releases about the locations.
DeJoy has received criticisms for cutting overtime for postal workers, waiting to deliver late-arriving mail until the next day, removing the iconic blue post boxes from street corners, and pulling sorting machines from some distribution facilities in order to cut costs. According to stats from the Postal Service, the amount of first-class mail volume has been cut in half over the last 20 years, from 101,937 pieces to 54,943 pieces in 2019.
President Donald Trump poured fuel on the fire last week by claiming to withhold additional funding for the Postal Service in protest of states moving to mail-in voting for the general election. Manchin expressed his anger at the President for not supporting the Postal Service.
"Mr. President, please quit villainizing an institution that helped build America," Manchin said. "Please, be part of this great democracy of ours … and make sure you defend it like you've taken an oath to the Constitution to protect and defend. I want you to know the United States Postal Service, and all these wonderful employees that everyone loves and has all the confidence in, they deserve our undying and unwavering support."
Shortly after Manchin's conference, the U.S. Postal Service announced it would suspend all cost-cutting measures until after the November elections.
Manchin pushed back on the idea that there is enough capacity in West Virginia to sort mail-in absentee ballots, pointing to the consolidation of sorting facilities in the state. West Virginia has USPS sort facilities in South Charleston and Buckhannon, though facilities once existed in Parkersburg, Petersburg, Clarksburg, Martinsburg, Wheeling, Huntington, Beckley, and Bluefield.
"Why would you make another adjustment when you're going to have the largest amount of mail-in voters you've ever had because of the COVID-19 pandemic," Manchin asked. "These are unusual times, and I think it warrants keeping the sourcing machines we already have."
West Virginia voters can request an absentee ballot by citing the pandemic as a valid medical excuse. Voters can apply for an absentee ballot through their local county clerk, by downloading the application and mailing it in, or visiting GoVoteWV.com and applying online for an absentee ballot.
Oct. 28, is the deadline to request an absentee ballot. The deadline to deliver an absentee ballot to a county clerk's office is Nov. 2. The deadline for absentee ballots to be received without a postmark is Nov. 4.
(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)