Senator Kamala D. Harris Hearing Questions for the Record Submitted to Louis DeJoy “Examining the Finances and Operations of the United States Postal Service During COVID-19 and Upcoming Elections” Friday, August 21, 2020 Clarification about Announcement of Suspension of Initiatives On Wednesday, August 18, you announced that you were suspending “longstanding operational initiatives.”1 You did not indicate which initiatives you were suspending, but offered assurances that you would not change retail hours at postal offices, remove mail processing equipment or blue collection boxes, or close mail processing facilities. Your statement also said that, “overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.” 2 1. Please list the specific initiatives that you are suspending until the election. a. Do you plan to continue restricting late and extra mail delivery trips? b. Do you plan to continue test mail sorting and delivery policies, including Expedited Street/Afternoon Sortation? c. Do you plan to end the practice of treating all election mail as First Class mail regardless of the postage rate paid for it? d. Will overtime be granted under the same circumstances as it was prior to your arrival as Postmaster General? 2. For each of the suspended initiatives, please list the date that you plan to reinstate that initiative. 3. As part of the suspension of these initiatives, will you return and reassemble removed or locked collection boxes and mail sorting machines? 4. Since the time of your installation as Postmaster General, please provide this committee by September 9th with a detailed list of where specifically these collection boxes and sorting machines were removed from, including the date, and when they were returned or unlocked. 5. Have you considered, or been asked to consider, any additional policy changes that may affect on-time delivery between today and the election? If yes, please provide all relevant documentation of any additional policy changes that may be considered. 1 DeJoy, Louis, “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Statement.” Aug. 18, 2020. Accessed at https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020/0818-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-statement.htm 2 Ibid. Page 1 of 5 Effects of Mail Slowdown on Prescription Delivery In 2019, about 4.9% of prescriptions were dispensed by mail. 3 Mail-order prescription delivery is typically used by individuals treating chronic conditions and include regular prescriptions for heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and mental health conditions. According to one study, mail-order prescriptions were up 21% during the last week in March as compared to the same period last year.4 6. Before implementing operational changes, did you assess the impact of these changes on the delivery of prescriptions? a. If so, please provide that assessment. 7. Have you done any post-implementation assessment of the impact of operational changes on the delivery of prescriptions? a. If so, please provide that assessment. b. If not, will you commit to completing one by the end of September and providing it to this Committee? c. If your assessment finds that operational changes significantly delay delivery of medicines by mail will you nevertheless continue with the changes? Effect of Mail Slowdown on Veterans’ Prescriptions The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) fills about 80% of its 120 million prescriptions per year by mail, the vast majority of these deliveries are done by the Postal Service. There have been a number of reports about prescription deliveries from the VA being delayed. 8. Before implementing operational changes, did you assess the impact of these changes on the delivery of VA-issued prescriptions? a. If so, please provide that assessment. 9. Have you done any post-implementation assessment of the impact of operational changes on the delivery of VA-issued prescriptions? a. If so, please provide that assessment. b. If not, will you commit to completing one by the end of September and providing it to this Committee? c. If your assessment finds that your operational changes significantly delay the delivery of medicine to veterans will you nevertheless continue with the changes? 3 IQVIA, “Medicine Spending and Affordability in the U.S.” Aug. 4, 2020. Accessed at https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/medicine-spending-and-affordability-in-the-us 4 Hopkins, Jared, “Mail-Order Drug Delivery Rises During Coronavirus Lockdowns.” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2020. Accessed at https://www.wsj.com/articles/mail-order-drug-delivery-rises-during-coronavirus-lockdowns11589281203 Page 2 of 5 Effect of Mail Slowdown on Small Businesses In 2019, the Postal Service Inspector General reported that 70% of microbusinesses used the Postal Service during the preceding 6 months and 56% of microbusinesses said they shipped most frequently with the Postal Service. 5 That same report found that nearly 90% of microbusinesses said that the Postal Service was the same or better than other carriers in terms of price and convenience of locations to access services. 6 According to news reports based on interviews with current Postal Service employees, the operational changes that you implemented, including restrictions on overtime, left the Postal Service unable to process a surge in packages. 7 Additionally, my office received numerous reports from constituents of delayed mail delivery. 10. Before implementing operational changes, did you assess the impact of those changes on businesses, including microbusinesses and small businesses? a. If so, what was the estimated impact of the operational changes on businesses? 11. Have you done any post-implementation assessment of the impact of operational changes on small businesses’ and microbusinesses’ mail delivery? a. If so, please provide that analysis. b. If not, will you commit to completing one by the end of September and providing it to this Committee? c. If your assessment finds that your operational changes will harm businesses and consumers will you nevertheless continue with the changes? Effects of Mail Slowdown on Relief Payments for Families According to the Government Accountability Office, nearly a quarter of all CARES Act Economic Impact Payments were sent through the mail. 8 At least one state allowed Unemployment Insurance (UI) applicants to submit their applications by mail due to technical problems with their online submission portal.9 Another state mailed UI benefits on debit cards 5 U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, “From Home Office to Post Office: Improving Microbusiness Engagement with the U.S. Postal Service.” Sept. 4, 2019. Accessed at https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2019/RISC-WP-19-008.pdf 6 Ibid. 7 Gordon, Aaron, “The Post Office’s Great Mail Slowdown is Hurting Small Businesses.” Vice.com, Aug. 4, 2020. Accessed at https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7w9nd/usps-package-delays-mail-slowdown-hurts-smallbusinesses 8 House Committee on Ways & Means, “Economic Impact Payments Issued to Date.” June 5, 2020. Accessed at https://waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/2020.06.04%20EIP s%20Issued%20as%20of%20June%204%20FINAL.pdf. 9 King, Steve, “Mail-in applications, new website to become available for unemployment benefits in Florida.” WPBF News, Jul. 4, 2020. Accessed at https://www.wpbf.com/article/mail-in-applications-new-website-to- become-available-for-unemployment-benefits-in-florida/32037121. Page 3 of 5 when they first started claiming benefits. 10 Approximately 550,000 Social Security beneficiaries also receive their benefits through mailed checks.11 12. Before implementing operational changes, did you assess the impact of these changes on UI applications, economic impact payments, or Social Security payments? a. If so, what was the estimated impact of the operational changes on individuals who rely on the mail to receive the funds they need to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads? 13. Have you done any post-implementation assessment of the impact of operational changes on the delivery of UI applications and benefits, economic impact payments, or Social Security payments? a. If so, please provide that assessment. b. If not, will you commit to completing one by the end of September and providing it to this Committee? c. If your assessment finds that the operational changes significantly delay those who receive these essential funds by mail will you nevertheless continue with the changes? Effects of Mail Slowdown on the 2020 Census On July 29, 2020, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham announced that the Census Bureau would be sending an additional, seventh mailing that includes a paper questionnaire to the lowest responding census tracts,12 and that some of these mailings may not arrive until September 15, 2020. On August 20, 2020, the Census Bureau confirmed that it would only count paper questionnaires that are postmarked September 30, 2020 and received at one of its two data processing centers in Phoenix and Jeffersonville, IN by October 7, 2020. 13 14. Before implementing operational changes, did you assess the impact of these changes on the 2020 Census? a. If so, what was the estimated impact of the operational changes on the 2020 Census mailings? 15. Have you done any post-implementation assessment of the impact of operational changes on the delivery of 2020 Census questionnaires? a. If so, please provide that assessment. 10 Office of Unemployment Compensation, “Filing for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.” Accessed at: https://www.uc.pa.gov/unemployment-benefits/file/Pages/Filing-for-PUA.aspx. 11 Social Security Administration, “Social Security (Title II) Direct Deposit Participation in The United States.” Accessed at: https://www.ssa.gov/deposit/T2StateSum_a.htm 12 Dillingham, Steven, “Prepared Statement of Dr. Steven Dillingham.” July 29, 2020. Accessed at: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7009444-July-29-2020-Statement-by-Census-Bureau-Director.html 13 Wang, Hansi Lo, “Mail Delays Could Hurt The Census, Too.” NPR, Aug. 20, 2020. Accessed at: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/20/902774632/mail-delays-could-hurt-the-census-too Page 4 of 5 b. If not, will you commit to completing one by the end of August and providing it to this Committee? c. If your assessment finds that the operational changes delay the delivery of 2020 Census questionnaires to households or to the Census Bureau’s data processing centers will you nevertheless continue with the policy? 16. Will you guarantee that Census questionnaires postmarked by September 30 th will be delivered to a Census Bureau data processing center by October 7 th? #### Page 5 of 5