Senator Tim Kaine sent a letter to the United States Postal Service, or USPS, last Friday, asking why many Virginians continue to face debilitating mail delays. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
In the letter, Kaine cites complaints that his staff has received from communities in southwestern Virginia and Henrico, where people have gone two or more weeks without receiving mail, including important bills. He asked Scott Slusher, the director of government relations liaisons for the eastern U.S., whether staffing shortages or other region-specific bottlenecks were factors.
TIM KAINE: This is medications. This is veterans' benefit checks. These are mail items that people really depend on. … The public health emergency is now over. … The post office shouldn't be able to continue to just cite, "oh, COVID's been tough" as the all-purpose explanation for why they're not performing.
In 2021, severe mail delays in Charlottesville and pressure from Senator Mark Warner led to a hiring spree and a new acting postmaster here.
KAINE: These things kind of go up and down. … I'm saying, now, I'm hearing a lot of complaints that are very similar in many parts of the state, so it does not seem to be regional, although I think it's worse in rural Virginia. But yes, we definitely have been hearing complaints in Charlottesville, Shenandoah Valley, and everywhere from Roanoke to Winchester.
Kaine said he hadn't yet gotten a response from the USPS.
