Illinois’ downstate Congressional delegation continue to push back against the U.S. Postal Service’s leadership decision to close mail processing facilities in Central Illinois.
On Tuesday, 13th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, 5th District Congressman Mike Quigley, 17th District Congressman Eric Sorenson along with Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging him to reconsider his decision to eliminate mail processing at Processing and Distribution Centers located in Champaign, Springfield, Peoria, and Milan. In their letter, the lawmakers noted that any move to alter operations at existing P&DC facilities in Illinois would only exacerbate delayed mail delivery in the state. USPS says that the P&DC facilities in Chicagoland and St. Louis would handle the work of the closed facilities.
The lawmakers reiterated the importance of delivering mail consistently and in a timely manner to Illinoisans who rely on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to receive medications, Social Security checks and more. Last year alone, the average on-time delivery of First-Class Mail nationally dropped to 85.4%, down from an already historic low of 91% the previous year.
Congresswoman Budzinski has led two bipartisan letters to the Postmaster General, with the first coming with 15th District Congresswoman Mary Miller directly addressing Postal Service facility changes in Champaign and Springfield. According to the previous letter, Illinois District 2, which encompasses all of Central Illinois, on-time delivery rates for both 2-day and 3-to-5 day delivery options were some of the lowest in the country. With the closing of the facilities, both argue that the delivery rates will get much worse.