General Discussion

Maine letter carriers say Collins paved the way for Trump’s attack on postal service

Years before the Trump administration began instituting cost-cutting measures that has created a national slowdown in mail delivery, Sen. Susan Collins sponsored legislation that Maine letter carriers now say manufactured a financial “crisis” in the U.S. Postal Service that has been used ever since to justify calls for privatization.

In 2005, Collins introduced the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA). In 2006, it became law and required the post office to pay for retirement healthcare benefits for workers 75 years into the future. No other federal agency or private corporation has been saddled with such a massive pre-funding mandate.