Bill Text: MI HR0027 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A resolution to memorialize the Congress of the United States to halt the closure of the U.S. Postal Service's Processing and Distribution Center in Lansing, Michigan, until postal reform legislation is addressed.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-04 - Referred To Committee On Government Operations [HR0027 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2015-HR0027-Introduced.html
Rep. Cochran offered the following resolution:
House Resolution No. 27.
A resolution to memorialize the Congress of the United States to halt the closure of the U.S. Postal Service's Processing and Distribution Center in Lansing, Michigan, until postal reform legislation is addressed.
Whereas, The U.S. Postal Service intends to close the Processing and Distribution Center in Lansing, Michigan, this February. The closure is part of an ambitious strategy to close numerous facilities across the country as a major cost-savings measure; and
Whereas, Closing the Lansing Processing and Distribution Center appears counterintuitive to the goal of providing high quality, efficient, and competitive postal services. The Lansing facility is a major mail processing hub located in the middle of the state. Consolidation of the tasks carried out here and relocation elsewhere will only degrade the responsiveness of the Postal Service. This will likely hamper its efforts to fend off competitive delivery systems. It is estimated that closing the Lansing facility, which handles 3 to 5 million pieces of mail each day, including one-half million first class items, would result in delays in delivery of up to three days rather than overnight; and
Whereas, Many people, including local leaders, feel the determination to consolidate services and close the Lansing Processing and Distribution Center was made without a thorough, transparent, and comprehensive comparison of the sites in question. The Lansing facility offers major advantages over other sites with its proximity to the intersection of major highways near the center of the state's population and access to adjacent land for future expansion. In addition, the facility to which area services will be relocated resides on leased property rather than government-owned property, like the property on which the Lansing facility resides; and
Whereas, The closure will unnecessarily hurt the Lansing area. In addition to the negative consequences of losing more than 200 facility jobs, slower postal services resulting from the Lansing closure could potentially harm area businesses, reducing efficiencies and productivity, and potentially leading some businesses to relocate to better service areas; and
Whereas, As Congress continues to debate extensive national reforms to update the U.S. Postal Service's network and business model, it makes little sense to move forward with this questionable closure. Once Congress has made a final decision on postal reforms, the U.S. Postal Service should reconsider this closure in the context of those broader reforms and the long-term interest of the Postal Service and the community; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we memorialize the Congress of the United States to halt the closure of the U.S. Postal Service's Processing and Distribution Center in Lansing, Michigan, until postal reform legislation is addressed; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.
