Montpelier, Vermont- The future of the postal service in Vermont is in jeopardy. 15 post offices and two processing centers are on the verge of closing. Sunday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders met with hundreds of folks in a town hall meeting to exchange ideas on how to save the U.S. Postal Service.
Around 300 people gathered at Montpelier High School for a town hall meeting with Senator Sanders. Many expressed their appreciation and their frustration with the U.S. Postal Service. Senator Sanders plans to introduce legislation to Congress this week to offset cutbacks and layoffs.
"In the midst of this horrendous recession, the last thing we need is to layoff another 100,000 American workers," said Sanders.
The National Postal Service has proposed to end Saturday mail deliveries, close 3,700 post offices and shut down 300 processing centers nationwide. Senator Sanders believes changes made now could prevent that from happening.
"Create a business model that unshackles the post office so they can begin to do services which today they are prohibited from doing. We can create a strong and vibrant post office."
Some of those services include; legal notarization and authorizing hunting licenses and fishing licenses.
During the meeting, Sanders asked for ideas and opinions on what should be done and he plans to take these ideas back to the capitol.
"We are going to fight to protect the postal service and protect the middle class of this country," said Sanders.
Sanders reports that in 2010, the post office lost 8 .5 billion dollars. The majority of that was to pre fund its benefits.
Comment Agreement
