Report: Privatizing USPS would hit Colorado rural residents hardest
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President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have proposed privatizing the United States Postal Service by selling it off to a corporation such as FedEx or UPS.
A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies showed which ZIP codes in Colorado and across the nation would likely pay higher parcel rates to cast ballots or receive medicines and other essential items.
Sarah Anderson, program director at the institute and the report's co-author, said more than 100 million Americans in rural areas, small towns and even suburbs on less profitable routes would take the biggest hit.
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"Without competition from a public service that has a mandate to provide affordable delivery to every address in America, people in these areas in particular might lose their delivery at their homes altogether," Anderson pointed out.
Efforts to sell off the nation's postal service come as the Trump administration makes good on promises to reduce the size of government and programs it sees as inefficient or wasteful. Proponents of privatization have long argued corporations do a better job, at a lower cost, compared with government agencies.
Currently, U.S. Postal Service parcel rates are between 25 percent and 60 percent lower than rates charged by FedEx and UPS. Anderson noted to keep prices down, a private company would likely use more part-time workers who would get lower wages, fewer hours, benefits and less job security. She said the Postal Service has historically provided good-paying jobs in Colorado and across the country.
"Doing work that really helps bind the nation together," Anderson contended. "That was the original vision of the Postal Service. It's in our Constitution that it should help connect rural to urban areas and level the playing field."
Americans across the political spectrum have voiced strong support for the Postal Service and its public mission, and Anderson added there are currently bipartisan resolutions against privatization in the U.S. House and Senate. She hopes the president is listening to the people in his own party.
"Who are speaking out in support of keeping the Postal Service public, and keeping its mandate to provide universal service to every American no matter where you live," Anderson concluded.
