A bipartisan group of United States senators introduced a bill Wednesday which would allow the United States Postal Service to save 45.9 billion dollars over ten years. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the Postal Service Reform Act to the Senate along with 18 colleagues from both sides of the aisle.

Senator Peters noted that Americans rely on the USPS for paychecks, medications, among other essential items, and promised the bill “will ensure [the postal service] has the sustainable financial footing to provide timely [and] reliable service.” The Act would require the Postmaster General to submit a lengthy report on USPS usage and growth every six months and require the USPS to continue deliveries at least six days a week.

The Act would also do away with the prefunding requirement, a health care system that costs the postal service 5.5 billion to 5.8 billion dollars a year and contributes substantially to the service’s continued financial losses. Per a 2006 law, the USPS must pre-fund health benefits for its retirees. According to the USPS, “other federal agencies and most private sector companies use a ‘pay-as-you-go’ system, by which the entity pays premiums as they are billed.”

Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) called the prefunding requirement an “accounting absurdity” and added that the USPS should not be expected to turn a profit “any more than our highway system or NASA should run a profit.”

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the Postal Service Reform Act and the additional Postal Service Improvement Act in the House of Representatives on May 11, 2021.