Postal Service Improvement Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3077 To require mail-in ballots to use the United States Postal Service barcode service, to provide paid parental leave to officers and employees of the Postal Service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2021 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. LYNCH, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To require mail-in ballots to use the United States Postal Service barcode service, to provide paid parental leave to officers and employees of the Postal Service, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Postal Service Im- 4 provement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3077.IH H3077 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3077 IH SEC. 2. MAIL-IN BALLOTS AND POSTAL SERVICE BARCODE 1 SERVICE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3001 of title 39, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(p) Any ballot sent within the United States for an 6 election for Federal office is nonmailable and shall not be 7 carried or delivered by mail unless the ballot is mailed in 8 an envelope that— 9 ‘‘(1) contains a Postal Service barcode (or suc- 10 cessive service or marking) that enables tracking of 11 each individual ballot; 12 ‘‘(2) satisfies requirements for ballot envelope 13 design that the Postal Service may promulgate by 14 regulation; 15 ‘‘(3) satisfies requirements for machineable let- 16 ters that the Postal Service may promulgate by reg- 17 ulation; and 18 ‘‘(4) includes the Official Election Mail Logo 19 (or any successor label that the Postal Service may 20 establish for ballots).’’. 21 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 22 section (a) shall apply to any election for Federal office 23 occurring after the date of enactment of this Act. 24 (c) REIMBURSEMENT TO STATES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3077.IH H3077 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3077 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Government 1 shall reimburse each State (including the District of 2 Columbia and any territory or possession of the 3 United States) for the cost of using the Postal Serv- 4 ice barcode service as required under subsection (p) 5 of section 3001 of title 39, United States Code, as 6 added by subsection (a). 7 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 9 year 2022 and each fiscal year thereafter such sums 10 as may be necessary, to be derived from the general 11 fund of the Treasury, for reimbursing States for 12 such cost. 13 SEC. 3. PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR POSTAL SERVICE AND 14 POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION EMPLOY- 15 EES. 16 The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 17 U.S.C. 2612), is amended— 18 (1) in section 101(2)(E)— 19 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by in- 20 serting ‘‘USPS, AND POSTAL REGULATORY 21 COMMISSION’’ after ‘‘GAO’’; and 22 (B) by inserting ‘‘the United States Postal 23 Service, or the Postal Regulatory Commission’’ 24 after ‘‘Government Accountability Office’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3077.IH H3077 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3077 IH (2) in section 102(d)(3)— 1 (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 2 ‘‘USPS, AND POSTAL REGULATORY COMMIS- 3 SION’’ after ‘‘GAO’’; and 4 (B) by striking ‘‘the Government Account- 5 ability Office’’ in each instance and inserting 6 ‘‘the Government Accountability Office, the 7 United States Postal Service, or the Postal 8 Regulatory Commission’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3077.IH H3077 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS