House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) asked the Postal Regulatory Commission last week to halt a postal rate increase scheduled for July.

He was joined by Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Maryland), who holds a leadership position on the subcommittee overseeing the USPS, plus other lawmakers serving on the committee.

These lawmakers assert that the proposed postal increase should be blocked because the USPS has failed to meet its statutory requirement to “maintain high-quality service standards.” They noted the commission’s review of USPS performance in fiscal year 2023 found the agency missed its targets for more than half of its market-dominant products.

The proposed periodicals rate increase amounts to an almost 10 percent bump for community newspapers already paying high rates for subpar service, the National Newspaper Association said. 

This rate increase means newspapers would be paying about 50 percent more for postage than three years ago.

The NNA urges the public to contact their Congressional delegations and U.S. senators to bring further attention to the situation.

To contact your legislators on this issue, call U.S. Rep. Mike Bost’s office at 202-225-5661, or U.S. senators Dick Durbin at 202-224-2152 and/or Tammy Duckworth at 202-224-2854.