Biden wants more tax dollars for U.S. Postal Service

By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent

President Joe Biden wants to continue to invest millions in taxpayer-funded improvements to help the United States Postal Service.

Biden’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2023 includes $5 million for the USPS to support vote-by-mail efforts, including making ballots postage free and reducing the cost of election-related mail.

The 2023 federal budget, which was released March 28, also calls for $757 million for “zero-emission fleet vehicles” and for the creation of charging infrastructures at 19 federal agencies to help boost use of electric vehicles by the government.

The budget would earmark $300 million for changing infrastructure at the USPS and other federal agencies.

These provisions are similar to ones contained in Biden’s proposed Build Back Better program that stalled in Congress.

The president has said he would push for some of the programs to be authorized separately by lawmakers.

Asked to comment on the budget, Kimberly Frum, a USPS spokeswoman, said “the Postal Service is fully committed to the inclusion of electric vehicles as a significant part of our delivery fleet.”

“We have also repeatedly stated, we must make fiscally prudent decisions in the needed introduction of a new vehicle fleet,” she said.

“We will continue to look for opportunities to increase the electrification of our delivery fleet in a responsible manner, consistent with our operating strategy, the deployment of appropriate infrastructure and our financial condition, which we expect to continue to improve as we pursue our plan,” Frum said.

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