Threat to nonprofit mailing rate averted
Elimination of nonprofit mailing rates seems to have been averted.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, told the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers this week that Section 403 will be deleted from HR2309 when the bill goes to the House floor later this summer. That section of the postal reform bill calls for the elimination of the nonprofit mailing rate over 12 years. Nonprofit postal rates have existed for nearly a century.
Elimination of Section 403 frees the Alliance and its members to support the House bill, which seeks to reign in the Postal Service's costs through such ways as closing underused post offices and reducing personnel. The House bill authorizes the creation of a control board and other cost cutting measures.
“The necessary restructuring of the USPS almost certainly will mean further belt-tightening by all of its stakeholders, including nonprofits. But there really is no alternative. Without these reforms, the USPS faces a future of red ink, runaway rate increases, declining mail volume, and taxpayer-funded bailouts,” Consumer Reports publishing operations director Meta Brophy said. Details: www.nonprofitmailers.org.
