Companies in the accounts receivable management industry may have found an unlikely ally — Democratic state Attorneys General — who have filed a formal complaint seeking to order the U.S. Postal Service to obtain an advisory opinion on a plan from the Postmaster General to overhaul the service, including slower delivery of the mail.
A copy of the complaint, filed by the Attorneys General of California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Rhode Island and Washington can be accessed by clicking here.
Louis DeJoy, the embattled Postmaster General, has unveiled a 10-year plan to overhaul the Postal Service, including slower mail delivery timelines to help the agency save money. Under the plan, about 70% of first-class mail will be delivered slower than it currently is.
“This plan is merely the latest proposal from Postmaster General DeJoy that would damage the nation’s postal service,” said Aaron Ford, the Attorney General of Nevada, in a statement. “I believe the Postal Regulatory Commission should intervene in order to stop the further degradation of public service that will affect every American. The Postal Service must be given the best tools to succeed in its original mission to provide the nation with reliable, affordable and universal mail service.”
The AGs are accusing DeJoy of putting his plan into action without first obtaining an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission. Federal law dictates that such an opinion be obtained when making changes that will affect the entire country, the AGs claim.
“With reliance on timely mail service still at historical levels, including by low-income, rural and elderly populations, as well as every level of government, the Postal Service’s decisions have critical consequences felt across the country,” the AGs wrote in their complaint. “Now, more than ever, it is necessary for the Commission to carefully examine the full breadth of the Postal Service’s sweeping changes, and to afford the public the opportunity to comment on them, as Congress intended.”
