CBS St. Louis: U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, along with Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, has proposed a new bill addressing post office closures.

The bill would prevent the U.S. Postal Service from using its emergency suspension process to indefinitely close post offices without notice to the community, opportunity to appeal, or a time frame for reopening or permanently closing a facility.

Five St. Louis-area post offices and 34 other Missouri locations would be protected under the new bipartisan legislation.

McCaskill said in a news release:

“These post offices are part of the lifeblood of our communities—a source of employment and a lifeline for commerce—and we can’t allow the Postal Service to balance its books on the backs of small communities by shuttering post offices where they’re often most needed, with little transparency or explanation.”  Read more,