A bill introduced in the Senate last May, and last week in the House, would ban additional pricing authority for Periodicals unless the Postal Service can improve service for the class.
S 4378, titled the Deliver for Democracy Act, was introduced May 21 by Senator Peter Welch (VT) with eight bipartisan cosponsors. The companion House bill was introduced July 23 by Reps. Robert Aderholt (AL 4th) and Emmanuel Cleaver II (MO 5th), with seventeen bipartisan cosponsors. In a press release issued by the sponsors of the House bill, Rep. Aderhold stated
“For some time now, it’s become clear the United States Postal Service is not living up to the expectations we all have for it as a federal agency. One of its many recent disappointments has been in the way it handles periodicals like newspapers. In a world where information is being shared ever more quickly, the postal service has, in many ways, gotten slower. …”
Rep. Cleaver added:
“… Our bipartisan legislation would help to address this ongoing concern and incentivize the USPS to get this issue under control immediately by forbidding the agency to raise rates if they continue missing the mark on their delivery standards.”
The text of S 4378 was fairly straightforward in barring any increase in rates for Periodicals until service improves:
“Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Postal Regulatory Commission shall amend [its regulations] to provide that, for any fiscal year ending after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall not authorize the United States Postal Service any additional rate authority with respect to periodicals under that section for the following fiscal year, unless the Commission determines that the United States Postal Service achieved—
(1) a 95 percent on-time delivery performance for periodicals during the fiscal year of the determination, as measured by the service standards in effect on the date of enactment of this Act; or
(2) an increase in the on-time delivery performance for periodicals during the fiscal year of the determination, as measured by the service standards in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, of not less than 2 percentage points, as compared to the on-time delivery performance percentage in the fiscal year before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act in which the on-time delivery performance percentage is the highest measured, as measured by such service standards.”
The bill also would require enhanced service performance data for Periodicals. Specifically, it mandates an annual report from the Postmaster General about progress in including “in-county and out-of-county newspaper mail that is entered and accepted at each delivery unit for delivery” in Periodicals service performance data.
Given that Periodicals as a class fails to cover its costs (which is why the current ratesetting process includes the 2% “adder” applicable to Periodicals prices), the legislation would also task the Government Accountability Office with yet another study of the circumstances related to the shortfall:
“The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of alternative pricing schemes and other options for the United States Postal Service that would improve the financial position of periodicals and other products that do not cover their costs and evaluate the potential impact of such alternative pricing schemes and other options.”
The resulting report would be due to committees with postal oversight no later than two years after passage of the act. Periodicals are almost always flats, and the Postal Service has been chronically unable to process flats efficiently – leading to both poor service performance and above average price increases for the category – despite repeated studies and annual mandates by the commission to improve flats processing and lower related costs. As a result, it’s unclear what root causes or in-process deficiencies will be discovered by the GAO that may not be already known.
If you're on this page, it's likely because you have challenges to find solutions for or a question to answer. Fortunately, you've come to the right place. Click below to download our 2023 Services brochure to learn just how much we have to offer. Leave your name and email if you'd like us to stay in touch.
The brochure is a PDF that will open in a new browser window. Download, read, share, and let us know if you have questions.