[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4378 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4378
To require on-time delivery of periodicals to unlock additional rate
authority, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2024
Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Rounds, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Cramer, Mr.
Wyden, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Sanders) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require on-time delivery of periodicals to unlock additional rate
authority, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Deliver for Democracy Act''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RATE AUTHORITY FOR PERIODICALS.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Postal Regulatory Commission shall amend section 3030.222 of title 39,
Code of Federal 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.
SEC. 3. ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT.
(a) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Subject to subsections (c) and (d), the
Postmaster General shall submit to the Postal Regulatory
Commission and make publicly available an annual report on the
progress of the United States Postal Service in including in
the periodical service performance measurements of the Postal
Service on-time performance data for in-county and out-of-
county newspaper mail that is entered and accepted at each
delivery unit for delivery.
(2) Stakeholder input.--In carrying out the report
requirement under paragraph (1), the Postmaster General shall
solicit feedback from relevant stakeholders.
(b) Implementation of Report Requirement.--If the relevant
information is not available for each individually-addressed piece of
mail for purposes of a report required under subsection (a), the Postal
Regulatory Commission, in consultation with the Postmaster General,
shall develop a system for generating service performance data for use
in the report by producing digital information for relevant mail
bundles.
(c) Termination of Report Requirement.--The Postmaster General
shall submit and make publicly available the report described in
subsection (a) annually until the date on which the Postal Regulatory
Commission determines that the United States Postal Service has
incorporated the categories of mail described in subsection (a), or any
other relevant mail categories used in the report in accordance with
subsection (d), into the existing applicable service performance
measurements.
(d) Proxy Information.--
(1) In general.--If the Postal Regulatory Commission and
the Postmaster General jointly determine that identifying
newspaper mail within the periodicals mail category is not
practicable for purposes of a report under subsection (a), the
Postal Regulatory Commission may determine what information
with respect to the closest relevant mail category the
Postmaster General may use in the report.
(2) Public report on determination.--If the Postal
Regulatory Commission and the Postmaster General make the
determination described in paragraph (1), the Postal Regulatory
Commission and the Postmaster General shall make publicly
available a report describing the process and rationale for the
determination, including a description of--
(A) the potential costs for the United States
Postal Service and applicable businesses resulting from
the report requirement under subsection (a);
(B) the ability of the Postmaster General to
ascertain accurate results for inclusion in the report
under subsection (a); and
(C) any other factor contributing to the
determination.
SEC. 4. GAO STUDY AND REPORT.
(a) Study.--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.
(b) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House
of Representatives a report on the study conducted under subsection
(a).
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