HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—Connecticut's Attorney General is calling on the Postal Regulatory Commission to block the U.S. Postmaster General's proposed changes for the U.S. Postal Service, after past changes led to a rapid and significant decline in service.
Attorney General William Tong has joined a group of 21 attorneys general and two cities in urging the commission to oppose efforts to increase delivery times for first-class mail and other postal services.
Over the last couple of years, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been decimating the postal service with huge cuts in service, staff and equipment, Tong said.
These changes have led to unprecedented slow-downs in service nationwide, particularly with first-Class mail, Tong said.
"It has proven to be a huge problem for people across the country, waiting for paychecks, rent checks, medicine, important information about their kids' school," Tong said. "When we're all working remotely, the mail actually has become more important, particularly during a pandemic when we relied on the mail so much for our absentee ballots."
Though the changes have been proposed as a means of saving money, Tong said they'll actually slowing down service.
According to Tong, 40% of all first-class mail in the U.S. will be slowed down by the proposed changes which could impact up to 96 percent of U.S. zip codes.
Looking to the Postal Regulatory Commission, Tong said the first step in rebuilding the U.S. Postal Service is to stop any further service cuts.
"Postmaster DeJoy and the Postal Service Commission need to engage with Congress about a larger conversation about changes that need to be made at the postal service in terms of its financial stability," he said, "Now that's part two. Part one is to stop dismantling the postal service and turning it into something that's unrecognizable to all of us."
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and New York Attorney General Letitia James are leading the call.
Along with Connecticut, attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont and Virginia are joining the initiative. The City of New York, and the City and County of San Francisco are also taking part in the call.