RENO, Nevada — The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it was abandoning a plan to reroute mail from the Reno area to Sacramento, a move that had sparked outrage among Northern Nevada residents who worried the plan would fall through. delay local deliveries and jeopardize the timely arrival of mail-in ballots.
USPS said in a statement that it has identified “improved efficiencies” that will allow it to continue processing single-piece mail at its existing Reno postal facility. It said it does not expect the revised strategy to have any impact on postal workers in Reno.
The latest change in plans is contingent on the formal filing of the application with the Postal Regulatory Commission next month, the agency said.
Senator Jacky Rosen said it should mean the end of “this misguided Washington plan.”
“The announcement that this widely opposed transfer of local mail processing operations will no longer occur is a huge victory for our seniors, veterans and everyone in Northern Nevada who depends on timely mail delivery,” Rosen said.
Rosen, a Democrat running for re-election against Republican Sam Brown in one of the nation’s most hotly contested Senate races, earlier this year spearheaded a bipartisan effort to combat the original plan. She was joined by fellow Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Republican Rep. Mark Amodei and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, the state’s top elections official, had warned that the move could delay the processing of mail ballots and “has the potential to disenfranchise thousands of Nevada voters and would undoubtedly impact the outcome of Nevada’s elections.”
Most Nevadans voted by mail the last two times they went to the polls for the statewide primary and general elections. In the November 2022 general election, 51% voted by mail. That number grew to 65% in this year’s June primary.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy had presented the original downsizing plan, which was to take effect the next year, as a necessary cost-cutting measure. It faced fierce opposition in Nevada because it would have meant that all mail sent from the Reno area would have to pass through Sacramento before reaching its final destination — even from one side of the city to the other.
Lawmakers warned that even in the best weather conditions, mail deliveries could face traffic delays along the 260-mile (418-kilometer) drive along U.S. Interstate 80 over the Sierra Nevada between Reno and Sacramento.
And heavy snowfalls typically close the mountain highway several times a year during severe winters, which can begin as early as fall and last until late spring.
Rosen and Amodei introduced companion legislation in Congress in March to block the processing transfer after a snowstorm dumped up to 3 meters high (3 meters) of snow on the mountains earlier that month.
The agency said in a statement Tuesday that more details will be released after a pre-filing conference with the Postal Regulatory Commission on Sept. 5 “to discuss the proposal and obtain stakeholder feedback in anticipation of a subsequent submission” to obtain a formal recommendation from the commission.
“If the rulemaking process is successful, there will be no change in the location for canceling certain mail in Reno,” the report said. “In simpler terms, outgoing single-piece mail will be processed at the current location.”