Rounds, Welch Lead the Deliver for Democracy Act to Help Local News Overcome Persistent Issues with USPS

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today announced that they have reintroduced the Deliver for Democracy Act. This legislation would help rural newspaper delivery by incentivizing reliable service from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for periodical publications and limiting excessive rate increases. Rounds and Welch first introduced this legislation in the 118th Congress in May 2024.

In recent years, USPS has raised rates for periodicals under the guise of increased efficiency and improved service. However, despite this promise, local news continues to face persistent delays in delivery of their products.

“Local journalists work hard every day to deliver news on a timely basis, and the U.S. Postal Service should too,” said Rounds. “Periodical rates have cumulatively increased by over 40 percent since August 2021. Meanwhile, the Postal Service’s on-time delivery performances have not improved, leaving local journalists to pick up the slack by handling delivery on their own in order to make certain their readers receive papers on time. Our common sense legislation helps protect rural newspapers and consumers from unjustified price hikes by making certain the Postal Service is held to a standard for on-time deliveries.” 

This legislation is cosponsored by Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The Deliver for Democracy Act is led in the House by U.S. Representatives Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). 

The Deliver for Democracy Act is endorsed by the South Dakota NewsMedia Association, the National Newspaper Association and News/Media Alliance. 

“Thank you to Senator Rounds for reintroducing the Deliver for Democracy Act and continuing to fight for a Postal Service that is sustainable and responsive,” said Dave Bordewyk, Executive Director of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association. “The members of our association grow anxious by the day worrying about the service reliability and the skyrocketing costs associated with delivering their newspapers to subscribers all across our state and the nation. The legislation proposed by Senator Rounds offers a way forward for the Postal Service and we fully support it.”

“Local journalists play a critical role in keeping millions of Americans informed, but right now the postal system's unsustainable rates and unreliable service are endangering many of our members. If something doesn't change soon, they may be pushed out of business, and residents of communities both large and small will see a loss of quality news and information. We thank Senator Welch and Senator Rounds for their leadership and support for the Deliver for Democracy Act,” said Danielle Coffey, News/Media Alliance President and CEO. 

BACKGROUND:

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 established an inflation-based cap to annual price increases for all market-dominant postal products, including periodicals. In January 2021, the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) finalized regulations that established three additional forms of rate authority, including one for non-compensatory classes of mail such as periodicals and package services. Under those regulations, USPS is provided an additional two percentage points of rate authority for any class or product of mail where costs exceed revenue. Since then, USPS has maximally exercised that authority and raised periodical postage rates by over 40%.  

Despite such significant rate increases, however, the Postal Service has routinely failed to meet periodicals’ basic needs and achieve the 95% on-time delivery performance standard outlined in its 10-year plan. As a result, local news outlets, which must already navigate other existential challenges, are simultaneously subject to high distribution costs and poor service. 

The Deliver for Democracy Act would: 

1. Require USPS to 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;  
2. Direct the USPS to annually report to the PRC on its progress in including on-time delivery data for newspapers in its periodical service performance measurement; and 
3. Instruct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on options for alternate USPS pricing schemes to improve the financial position of periodicals. 

Rounds has been a leader on improving USPS services in South Dakota. In April 2024, Rounds sent a letter to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging USPS to avoid downsizing or significantly reorganizing mail processing operations in South Dakota. Rounds then introduced the Postal Processing Protection Act in June 2024, legislation that would require USPS to consider consequences for rural areas during their closure or downsizing review process in order to protect rural mail processing facilities. Rounds recently reintroduced this legislation in the 119th Congress. As a result, USPS paused the downsizing of mail processing facilities in Huron and Sioux Falls.

Click HERE to read full text of the bill.

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