Georgia Congressmen Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott Tell Postmaster General to Protect Mail Service to Protect Mail Service for Middle Georgia and Rural Communities

Below is a press release from Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop.

MACON, Ga. – Congressman Sanford Bishop (D-GA-02) and Congressman Austin Scott (R-GA-08) sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors regarding the proposed changes to the Macon Processing and Distribution facility (Macon P&DC) in Macon, Georgia. The letter urges the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to keep the Macon P&DC open, and not scale it down, so that it can continue to process local mail and deliver both letters and packages to Middle Georgians on-time.

“The U.S. Postal Service should strive to provide the best possible service to every family and business in America, even those whose addresses are located in remote areas and rural communities,” said Congressman Bishop. “Any proposed changes to postal operations in Middle Georgia should take into account the unique challenges faced by rural Americans, especially our seniors who often rely on USPS for the delivery of bills, checks, and prescription drugs.”

“Rural Georgians deserve to get their mail and packages in a timely manner. I’m working with Rep. Bishop to ensure that rural Georgians are not left behind as USPS makes changes to their processing and distribution centers,” said Congressman Austin Scott.

The bipartisan letter also asks USPS to consider the potential loss of postal jobs and possible delivery delays of mail, so that the people of Georgia fully understand the consequences of any proposed changes.

In March of 2021, USPS published its “Delivering for America” plan to modernize the Postal Service and save costs. In July 2023, USPS announced a Mail Processing Facility Review (MPFR) of the Macon P&DC to determine if it would be possible to move some operations from the Macon facility to the new Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC).

As a result of the review, it has been proposed to change Macon’s P&DC into a Local Processing Center (LPC), which processes only letters and flat mail and is not expected to process packages originating from Middle Georgia.

Following the closings of the Columbus, Albany, and Valdosta Customer Service Mail Processing Centers (CSMPCs) in 2012, Middle and Southwest Georgia lost jobs and faced mail delivery delays as local mail is now processed through more distant facilities in metro Atlanta, Montgomery, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee.

Congressman Bishop and Congressman Scott are concerned that the loss or scaling down of the Macon P&DC could make the situation worse and harm rural communities that rely on the Post Office the most.

You can view a copy of the letter on Congressman Bishop’s website.

More information about USPS’s “Delivering for America” plan can be found here: https://about.usps.com/what/strategic-plans/delivering-for-america/