II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deliver for Democracy 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RATE AUTHORITY FOR PERIODICALS. 

7 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Postal Regulatory Commission shall 

9 amend section 3030.222 of title 39, Code of Federal ReguVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:55 Jun 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4378.IS S4378

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1 lations, to provide that, for any fiscal year ending after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

3 not authorize the United States Postal Service any addi4 tional rate authority with respect to periodicals under that 

5 section for the following fiscal year, unless the Commission 

6 determines that the United States Postal Service 

7 achieved— 

8 (1) a 95 percent on-time delivery performance 

9 for periodicals during the fiscal year of the deter10 mination, as measured by the service standards in 

11 effect on the date of enactment of this Act; or 

12 (2) an increase in the on-time delivery perform13 ance for periodicals during the fiscal year of the de14 termination, as measured by the service standards in 

15 effect on the date of enactment of this Act, of not 

16 less than 2 percentage points, as compared to the 

17 on-time delivery performance percentage in the fiscal 

18 year before, on, or after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act in which the on-time delivery performance 

20 percentage is the highest measured, as measured by 

21 such service standards. 

22 SEC. 3. ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT. 

23 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c) 

25 and (d), the Postmaster General shall submit to the 


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1 Postal Regulatory Commission and make publicly 

2 available an annual report on the progress of the 

3 United States Postal Service in including in the peri4 odical service performance measurements of the 

5 Postal Service on-time performance data for in-coun6 ty and out-of-county newspaper mail that is entered 

7 and accepted at each delivery unit for delivery. 

8 (2) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—In carrying out the 

9 report requirement under paragraph (1), the Post10 master General shall solicit feedback from relevant 

11 stakeholders. 

12 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF REPORT REQUIREMENT.— 

13 If the relevant information is not available for each indi14 vidually-addressed piece of mail for purposes of a report 

15 required under subsection (a), the Postal Regulatory Com16 mission, in consultation with the Postmaster General, 

17 shall develop a system for generating service performance 

18 data for use in the report by producing digital information 

19 for relevant mail bundles. 

20 (c) TERMINATION OF REPORT REQUIREMENT.—The 

21 Postmaster General shall submit and make publicly avail22 able the report described in subsection (a) annually until 

23 the date on which the Postal Regulatory Commission de24 termines that the United States Postal Service has incor25 porated the categories of mail described in subsection (a), 


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1 or any other relevant mail categories used in the report 

2 in accordance with subsection (d), into the existing appli3 cable service performance measurements. 

4 (d) PROXY INFORMATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Postal Regulatory 

6 Commission and the Postmaster General jointly de7 termine that identifying newspaper mail within the 

8 periodicals mail category is not practicable for pur9 poses of a report under subsection (a), the Postal 

10 Regulatory Commission may determine what infor11 mation with respect to the closest relevant mail cat12 egory the Postmaster General may use in the report. 

13 (2) PUBLIC REPORT ON DETERMINATION.—If 

14 the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Post15 master General make the determination described in 

16 paragraph (1), the Postal Regulatory Commission 

17 and the Postmaster General shall make publicly 

18 available a report describing the process and ration19 ale for the determination, including a description 

20 of— 

21 (A) the potential costs for the United 

22 States Postal Service and applicable businesses 

23 resulting from the report requirement under 

24 subsection (a); 


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1 (B) the ability of the Postmaster General 

2 to ascertain accurate results for inclusion in the 

3 report under subsection (a); and 

4 (C) any other factor contributing to the 

5 determination. 

6 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

7 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

8 States shall conduct a study of alternative pricing schemes 

9 and other options for the United States Postal Service 

10 that would improve the financial position of periodicals 

11 and other products that do not cover their costs and evalu12 ate the potential impact of such alternative pricing 

13 schemes and other options. 

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

16 United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

17 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House 

19 of Representatives a report on the study conducted under 

20 subsection (a). 

Æ 


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