[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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