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Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation could add more than $1 billion to the U.S. Postal Service's budget, requiring another rate increase in January, but not enough for the November election. The Postal Service is well prepared, Postmaster General Lewis DeJoy said Tuesday.
DeJoy said the Postal Service has already delivered nearly 40 million ballots to or from voters, along with a total of 550 million of his COVID-19 test kits.
"Americans should be confident that the U.S. Postal Service is well prepared and that he will provide exceptional service in the November election," he told the board.
Third quarter results reflected for the first time major reforms in Congress, leading to non-cash gains of nearly $59.6 billion. But DeJoy warned against reading too much into one-off gains. Without this, the Postal Service would have suffered an adjusted loss of $459 million.
"The problem is that there is a long road and a lot of hard work ahead in his ten-year transformation to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the Postal Service," he said. He said DeJoy.
The quarterly results were the first to reflect an overhaul signed into law by President Joe Biden in April.
The Postal Reform Act eliminated requirements that contributed to the agency's deficits, such as the prepayment of health insurance benefits to future retirees. This is not an obligation that private companies and federal agencies face. It also strengthened requirements for mail delivery six days a week.
Several members of the public speaking at the conference urged the governor to increase the number of next-generation electric delivery vehicles and increase the number of union members. begged to make sure they were made.
The first of these new vehicles will start operating next year, with half of the first batch of 50,000 vehicles powered by electricity.
As for postage, DeJoy has previously warned that it would be necessary, especially in the face of inflation.
The rate last increased in July, when the cost of a first class permanent stamp rose by 2 cents to his 60 cents.
