USPS fixed

President Joe Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 into law on Wednesday, providing the agency with a much-needed financial overhaul.

The Postal Service has remained fiscally underwater due to legislation passed decades ago limiting how it spends its money and what services it could offer. The USPS reform bill will give the agency that flexibility back.

The bill easily passed Congress with rare bipartisan support, receiving a 79-19 vote in the Senate on Tuesday evening, after the House passed it last month in a 342-92 vote. 

Under the law, the mandate that required the Postal Service to pay into future retiree health benefits will be dropped. Instead, retired postal employees will be required to enroll in Medicare. 

In addition, the USPS must maintain a public dashboard tracking service performance and will report regularly on its "operations and financial condition," according to a summary of the bill. It will also be able to create "non-postal services" in partnership with state and local government, like fishing licenses and subway passes, McConnell said.

"This bill, which has been 15 years in the making, will finally help the Postal Service overcome burdensome requirements that threaten their ability to provide reliable service to the American people,” Peters, a Democrat, said in a March 8 statement.