Legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin would halt any move to consolidate some Quincy mail processing operations into the Springfield facility.

The provision was included in the 2010 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill passed by the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday night.

Durbin is chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on FSGG.

“Towns across Illinois and across the nation can ill-afford to lose good paying jobs during the current economic downtown and Quincy is no exception,” Durbin said in a press release. “That is why I authored a provision in (Thursday’s) appropriations bill that would prevent the closing of the Postal Service’s Quincy facility and the loss of nearly 70 jobs.

“I look forward to working with the Postal Service to find a suitable, cost-saving alternative.”

The legislation still must be approved by the Senate and House and signed into law by the president.

“It’s a significant step that it’s gotten into the legislation,” said Christina Mulka, a Durbin spokesman. She said Durbin would do everything he could to get the legislation passed.

Quincy Mayor John Spring said he was “extremely thrilled” to hear about the legislation.

“We’ve been working with Sen. Durbin since day one, and I think all the support from the local people ... everything we did made Sen. Durbin and others realize that this wasn’t a good thing for Quincy, Illinois,” Spring said.

Spring said he actually heard about the study from the City Hall mail carrier about a month and a half ago.

If the legislation passes, “it keeps jobs here and it keeps our mail flowing, so I’m very happy and grateful,” Spring said.

The Postal Service is finishing up a feasibility study at the Quincy mail processing and distribution center to determine if some mail processing operations could be consolidated into the Springfield processing and distribution center.

The first notices about the study were sent out May 13, and the study was expected to take about two months.

“I don’t know anything about the legislation, but the study is in process and would be nearing completion,” said Valerie Hughes, a spokesman for the St. Louis office of the U.S. Postal Service. “We don’t know what the results of the study are, and it’s just a study. There’s nothing saying anything would happen.”

She said the Postal Service has received “a lot of comment” from the public about the possibility of a consolidation. She believes there has been some confusion about the study and potential changes to the mail processing operations.

She said there was never any intent to close the Quincy facility. The study was to determine if a portion of the mail handled by the Quincy facility could instead be handled in Springfield.

“It will still be there. It will still be open,” Hughes said.

The Quincy center opened at 4330 Postal Drive about 8 1/2 years ago. It handles an average of 40,000 cancellations each day and serves 121 communities in this region.

The feasibility study is part of a nationwide effort to find ways to deal with an expected $6.5 billion budget shortfall this year. Postmaster General John Potter announced in May that the Postal Service already has been reducing staff and consolidating services.

“There have been studies like this going on for two or three years. It’s not the first, nor will it be the last,” Hughes said.

— kwilson@whig.com/221-3391