Title: Delivering for America Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Delivering for America Act
This bill prohibits the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from making changes to operations or levels of service from those that were in effect on January 1, 2020, establishes requirements for the processing of election mail, and provides additional funding for the Postal Service Fund.
Specifically, the USPS may not, during the period beginning on enactment of this bill and ending on the last day of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency or January 31, 2021, whichever is later, implement or approve any change to the operations or the level of service that would reduce service performance or impede prompt, reliable, and efficient services. Such changes include the following:
The USPS shall reverse any initiative or action that is causing delay in processing or delivery or non-delivery of mail.
With regard to election mail specifically, the bill (1) establishes USPS policy to postmark, with imprinted indicia of the date of receipt, all processed election mail; and (2) directs the USPS to ensure that election mail is processed and cleared from any postal facility on the same day it is received. The term election mail means voter registration materials, absentee and other mail-in applications and ballots, and other materials mailed by state or local election officials to individuals registered to vote in the election.
The bill appropriates $25 billion as an additional payment to the Postal Service Fund, of which $15 million shall be transferred to the USPS Office of Inspector General.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4585 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4585

  To maintain prompt and reliable postal services during the COVID-19 
               health emergency, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 16, 2020

Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Carper, and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To maintain prompt and reliable postal services during the COVID-19 
               health emergency, 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 ``Delivering for America Act''.

SEC. 2. PROMPT AND RELIABLE POSTAL SERVICES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

    (a) In General.--During the period beginning on the date of 
enactment of this Act and ending on the last day of the COVID-19 public 
health emergency or January 31, 2021, whichever is later, the United 
States Postal Service may not implement or approve any change to the 
operations or the level of service provided by the Postal Service from 
those in effect on January 1, 2020, that would reduce service 
performance or impede prompt, reliable, and efficient services, 
including any of the following actions:
            (1) Any change in the nature of postal services which will 
        generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially 
        nationwide basis.
            (2) Any revision of service standards.
            (3) Any closure or consolidation of any post office or 
        postal facility, or any reduction of the hours of a post office 
        or postal facility.
            (4) Any prohibition or restriction on the use of overtime 
        or overtime pay to officers or employees of the Postal Service.
            (5) Any change that would prevent the Postal Service from 
        meeting its service standards or cause a decline in 
        measurements of performance relative to those service 
        standards.
            (6) Any change that would have the effect of delaying, 
        deferring, or curtailing mail, allowing for the non-delivery of 
        mail to a delivery route, or increasing the volume of 
        undelivered mail.
            (7) Treating election mail as any class of mail other than 
        first-class mail, regardless of whether such treatment requires 
        payment of overtime pay to officers or employees of the Postal 
        Service.
            (8) Removing, decommissioning, or any other stoppage of 
        mail sorting machines, other than for routine maintenance.
            (9) Removing or eliminating any mail collection box that is 
        available to the public.
            (10) Enacting any rule, policy, or standard the purpose or 
        effect of which would delay the delivery of mail to or from a 
        government entity.
            (11) Instituting any hiring freeze.
    (b) Reversal of Policies Hindering Delivery of Mail.--The United 
States Postal Service shall reverse any initiative or action that is 
causing delay in processing or delivery or non-delivery of the mail.
    (c) Election Mail.--
            (1) Policy on postmarks.--It shall be the policy of the 
        United States Postal Service to postmark, which shall include 
        any imprinted indicia from the Postal Service that indicates 
        the date of receipt, all election mail processed by the Postal 
        Service.
            (2) Same-day processing.--The United States Postal Service 
        shall ensure, to the maximum extent practical, that election 
        mail is processed and cleared from any postal facility or post 
        office on the same day on which the election mail is received 
        at the postal facility or post office.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``COVID-19 public health emergency'' means the 
        public health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 
        COVID-19, including any renewal of that declaration;
            (2) the term ``election mail'' means mail consisting of--
                    (A) voter registration application forms, completed 
                voter registration application forms, and voter 
                registration cards or similar materials;
                    (B) absentee and other mail-in ballot application 
                forms, blank absentee and other mail-in ballots, and 
                completed absentee and other mail-in ballots; and
                    (C) other materials relating to an election which 
                are mailed by a State or local election official to 
                individuals who are registered to vote in the election; 
                and
            (3) the term ``government entity'' means the Federal 
        Government or any State (as that term is defined in section 311 
        of title 5, United States Code) or local government and any 
        subdivision thereof.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE.

    There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 
for an additional payment to the Postal Service Fund established under 
section 2003 of title 39, United States Code, $25,000,000,000, to 
remain available until expended. Of the amount appropriated under the 
previous sentence, $15,000,000 shall be transferred to ``United States 
Postal Service--Office of Inspector General--Salaries and Expenses''.

SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or otherwise effect 
the terms and conditions of section 3406 of title 39, United States 
Code (relating to balloting materials under the Uniformed and Overseas 
Citizens Absentee Voting Act).

SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    (a) In General.--The amounts provided by this Act are designated as 
an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-
As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)).
    (b) Designation in the Senate.--In the Senate, this Act is 
designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) of 
H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the 
budget for fiscal year 2018.
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