• by Ray Schultz , July 25, 2024

The legislative effort to hold the U.S. Postal Service accountable for on-time delivery of periodicals received a boost on Tuesday when Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia) helped introduce, bicameral legislation to support rural newspaper delivery by incentivizing on-time U.S. Postal Service (USPS) delivery and limiting excessive rate increases for periodicals.

The Deliver for Democracy Act would hold the U.S. Postal Service accountable for on-time newspaper delivery service while incentivizing reliable service. 

In addition, the legislation now on tap in the House would limit rate increases for periodicals unless delivery and service standards are met.

“I remain frustrated that U.S. Postal Service leadership is once again planning to raise postal rates — for the sixth time in three years — without fixing the persistent mail service and delivery issues that they know hurt Virginians and Virginia businesses,” Spanberger says.

Spanberger adds: “Specifically, these frequent, excessive rate increases have impeded the business of our local newspapers. Local journalism is critical to keeping our neighbors informed — and many Virginians rely on their local paper to get the news they need.”

As written, the Deliver for Democracy Act would require that:

• The USPS either achieve at least a 95% on-time delivery rate for periodicals or an improvement of at least 2 percentage points to unlock its 2% surcharge authority for that class of mail.  
• The USPS annually report to the Postal Regulatory Commission on its progress in including on-time delivery data for newspapers in its periodical service performance measurement. 
• The Government Accountability Office submit a report to Congress on options for alternate USPS pricing schemes to improve the financial position of periodicals.  

The Deliver for Democracy Act was introduced in the Senate in May by a bipartisan group of senators, including Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), who is leading the effort along with Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD).  

That bill is also supported by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.).

In the House, the bill was introduced by Representatives Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO).