Government affairs

On April 16, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced H.R. 1837, the Secure Delivery for America Act. If passed, this bill would require the Postal Service to eliminate door delivery for 15 million addresses over the next 10 years by forcing 1.5 million households and businesses each year to convert from door delivery to curbside or cluster-box delivery.

H.R. 1837 includes language allowing for waivers for persons with disabilities. All others who do not fit those criteria and who choose to retain door delivery instead of converting to centralized, curbside or sidewalk cluster-box delivery would be forced to pay a “delivery tax” for door service.

The bill also calls for requiring USPS to offer and pay for a voucher program to offset the cost of the conversion. If the cost of rolling out this program is incumbent upon the Postal Service, it is unclear whether it would actually save the USPS the initially projected.$2 billion.

Issa introduced this same measure in the previous session of Congress. While he is no longer chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, it is clear that he is still trying to pull the same tricks by introducing legislation that is counterproductive to maintaining a robust Postal Service and that places on customers an undeu burden of paying a fee for a service that is already paid for by the sender through postage.

Please ask representative to oppose H.R. 1837 and to instead support H.Res. 28, a call for USPS to do all it can to protect door delivery.