Senator Rosen blasts Postmaster General DeJoy over plans that would affect Reno/Tahoe mail

It has been 164 years since the Pony Express first brought mail to California and Nevada. It took 10 days to get letters from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Progress has advanced the service since then, but possible changes are on the horizon that could put mail to and from Lake Tahoe and western Nevada and the rest of the country back on a slower trail.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has proposed a plan to revamp its system in the country in a $40 billion investment strategy. The plan would upgrade and improve the Postal processing, transportation, and delivery networks.

Part of those plans is a possible move of the Reno Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) facility to Sacramento, 130 miles to the west.

There has been a bipartisan challenge to the "misguided" efforts, with Nevada Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez-Masto and Nevada Representative Mark Amodei joining forces to convince Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to not mess with the Reno center.

During a press conference last week, Rosen said she and the other leaders wrote USPS demanding answers and demanding specifics, of which they have received none. The three Nevada politicians were joined by 20 senators in writing a letter to DeJoy to demand answers to proposed changes in many states, not just Nevada.

"We were provided with no details," said Rosen. "They did not provide data and failed to say why this proposal is good for Nevada families. It is deeply concerning. Others have asked USPS about the move and they're not getting answers."

Rosen tried to get answers on Tuesday during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday. She fired off questions of DeJoy, without getting responses as to why mail will go from Reno to Sacramento over I80 to be processed, then back to Reno.

Rosen told DeJoy that I80 was closed for 15 road closures for over 37 days this past winter and that high winds, heavy snow, and fires can close it more days than that each year.

She is also concerned about the 60+ jobs that are filled at the Reno center, as well as an increase in mail delivery times for seniors and veterans who use the mail for prescriptions, and, along with low-income residents, for checks and other important items, including critical mail for businesses.

The mail from South Lake Tahoe and Stateline goes through the Reno P&DC, along with that of the Carson Valley. If the DeJoy changes go through, all mail, even that with a local destination, would leave South Lake Tahoe, go to Reno, and be sent to Sacramento to be sorted. Then it would get back on the trucks to Reno to be transferred to South Lake Tahoe.