Montana Senator Jon Tester Calls on Postal Board to Stop Mail Review, Halt Missoula Relocation

Senator joins bipartisan group in pushing for improved rural service

(U.S. Senate) – As a part of his concerted effort to save Missoula’s Processing and Distribution Center’s (P&DC) outgoing processing operations and improve rural postal service, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today called on the United States Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors to halt the United States Postal Service’s Mail Processing Facility Review.

“USPS leadership is messing with the wrong state, and I’m proud to be leading the bipartisan fight to keep postal services strong in rural America,” said Tester. “Montanans know just how critical the Postal Service is to keeping our economy and quality of life strong – and the fight to keep Missoula’s outgoing mail processing operations is just beginning. I’ll always stand up to unelected bureaucrats that don’t understand Montana’s rural way of life, and I won’t stop fighting for Montanans to get the service they deserve.”

In his bipartisan letter to the USPS Board of Governors, Tester called for the USPS to halt the United States Postal Service’s Mail Processing Facility Review and restore service in areas where changes were implemented – including Missoula – until a comprehensive Advisory Opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission studying the potential impacts of these changes is completed. Additionally the letter cited that while the USPS claims these changes will improve service while reducing costs, there is evidence to the contrary in locations where USPS has implemented changes so far.

Last week in response to the USPS finalizing the decision to relocate Missoula’s P&DC outgoing processing operations to Spokane, Washington, Senator Tester introduced his Protecting Access to Rural Carriers for Every Location (PARCEL) Act – legislation to prohibit unnecessary and harmful consolidation of mail processing operations nationwide.

Tester has been Montana’s leading champion holding the USPS accountable. In February, Tester urged Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to halt the United States Postal Service’s Mail Processing Facility Review that could result in the relocation of Missoula’s P&DC outgoing mail processing operations to Spokane, Washington. In March, following an initial decision to make the move permanent, and after hearing from countless veterans frustrated with USPS’s untimely delivery of prescription medications, Tester called on the USPS Board of Governors to work towards improved postal service in Montana.

In December, Tester pressed the Biden Administration to address staffing challenges and fill upcoming openings in USPS leadership with people who have experience with postal matters in rural areas. In June, following months of discussions with Big Sky Post Office stakeholders and USPS, Tester secured a $229,000 per year increase in funding for the Big Sky Post Office to support continued services in the face of the area’s rapid population growth.

Read Tester’s full bipartisan letter to the USPS Board of Governors HERE.