Senator Chuck Schumer, Sunday, announced that he will push for a vote this week on a $50 billion overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service. For those of us who rely on the postal service and mail delivery every day, Congress simply cannot act fast enough.

“Every day, tens of millions of Americans — veterans, small businesses, people living in rural communities, seniors — rely on the Postal Service for their medicines and prescriptions, for getting essential goods, for voting, for correspondence, for their livelihoods, and to get close to one another on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, and things like that,” said Schumer, who was flanked by postal workers and an Etsy entrepreneur who relies on the postal service to deliver her products.

He’s right. The importance of the postal service cannot be overstated. When the mail is late, and when service slows to a crawl, we all suffer. Local post offices, often short staffed, are unable to sort and process First Class mail. Instead it is routed through a sorting center in Albany even when pieces are moving within the same zip code. Periodicals, political mailings, and other forms of business mail also get bogged down in sorting and distribution centers. There are days when the trucks coming in from Albany are late, making delivery late. And there are days when postal carriers are out on their routes long after dark.

Small businesses that have held on through the pandemic often rely on the post office to deliver their products. Failure to do so in a timely manner often costs them customers and repeat business. (We should know. Newspapers fall into that category.) Older adults like to pay their bills in paper checks instead of direct deposit banking. Schumer also reports that Veterans and Medicare recipients receive most of their medication through the mail (The Veterans Administration sends 80 percent of its meds through the mail).

We all have stories of how our lives or businesses have been disrupted by poor service. Until something is done, it will only get worse.