Springfield area State Representative Mike Coffey is joining the chorus of lawmakers opposed to the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed network consolidation plan.
This action would redirect Springfield’s packages and unprocessed mail to St. Louis, Missouri. The current proposal by the USPS would convert 58 Processing and Distribution Centers into Local Mail Processing Centers.
Coffey says that the state capital should retain its post office: “The opposition is #1, we are the state capital. We should have a post office here located in Springfield, Illinois. Where they are talking about relocating is St. Louis, which has had some of the biggest amounts of mail fraud in the country. We get a lot of tax payments that come to the Capital City. The delay in those tax payments could end up being 3-4 days. Not to mention the jobs that it would cost the 95th District and the Springfield community. It’s too costly. We need the jobs here. We need to build the district. I want to do everything we can to keep it here. The biggest thing is it’s the capital. Can you imagine the capital of the State of Illinois not having postal service? That’s absolutely crazy. That’s the biggest reason that I’m opposed to it. Hopefully, we can deal with the federally elected officials and get the job done here, because it needs to stay in Springfield, Illinois.”
The public comment period closed on the consolidation plan on Wednesday.