Vote By Mail Stamp Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8104 To provide for the issuance of the Voting By Mail Semipostal Stamp, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 25, 2020 Ms. HAALAND (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. HAYES, and Mr. CARSON of Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the issuance of the Voting By Mail Semipostal Stamp, 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 ‘‘Vote By Mail Stamp 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. VOTING BY MAIL SEMIPOSTAL STAMP. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to afford a convenient 7 way for members of the public to contribute to funding 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8104.IH H8104 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8104 IH voting accessibility, the United States Postal Service shall 1 issue a semipostal (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Voting 2 By Mail Semipostal Stamp’’) in accordance with this sec- 3 tion. 4 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The issuance and sale of the 6 Voting By Mail Semipostal Stamp shall be governed 7 by the provisions of section 416 of title 39, United 8 States Code, and regulations issued under such sec- 9 tion, subject to the requirements of this subsection. 10 (2) DURATION.—The Voting By Mail Semipost- 11 al Stamp shall be made available to the public for 12 a period of 10 years, beginning no later than 3 13 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 14 (3) COST.—The Voting By Mail Semipostal 15 Stamp shall be offered at a cost equal to the cost 16 of mailing a letter weighing 1 ounce or less at the 17 nonautomation single-piece first-ounce letter rate, in 18 effect at the time of purchase, plus a differential of 19 not less than 25 percent. 20 (4) DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.—All amounts 21 becoming available from the sale of the Voting By 22 Mail Semipostal Stamp (as determined under section 23 416(d) of such title) shall be transferred to the Elec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8104.IH H8104 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8104 IH tion Assistance Commission for the purpose of 1 grants under subsection (c). 2 (5) PROCEEDS NOT TO BE OFFSET.—In accord- 3 ance with section 416(d)(4) of such title, amounts 4 becoming available from the sale of the Voting By 5 Mail Semipostal Stamp shall not be taken into ac- 6 count in any decision relating to the level of appro- 7 priations or other Federal funding to be furnished in 8 any year to the Election Assistance Commission or 9 any State. 10 (c) GRANTS TO STATES TO SUPPORT VOTING BY 11 MAIL.— 12 (1) GRANTS.—The Election Assistance Com- 13 mission shall carry out a program to make grants to 14 eligible States for supporting voting by mail, includ- 15 ing voting by absentee ballot, in elections for Federal 16 office. 17 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive 18 a grant under the program under this subsection if 19 the State submits to the Commission, at such time 20 and in such form as the Commission may require, 21 an application containing— 22 (A) a description of how the State will use 23 the grant to support voting by mail in the 24 State; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8104.IH H8104 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8104 IH (B) such other information and assurances 1 as the Commission may require. 2 (3) AMOUNT.—The Commission shall determine 3 the amount of a grant made to an eligible State 4 under the program under this subsection, taking 5 into account the information provided by the State 6 in its application for the grant and the amount of 7 funds available for grants under the program. 8 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 9 the end of each fiscal year during which an eligible 10 State received a grant under the program under this 11 subsection, the State shall submit a report to the 12 Commission describing the activities the State car- 13 ried out with the grant. 14 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 15 There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 16 the fiscal years 2021 through 2030 such sums as 17 may be necessary to carry out this subsection, to be 18 derived from amounts transferred to the Commission 19 under subsection (b)(4). 20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 21 (1) the term ‘‘semipostal’’ refers to a postage 22 stamp described in section 416(a)(1) of title 39, 23 United States Code; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8104.IH H8104 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8104 IH (2) the term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 States, the 1 District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the 2 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 3 Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8104.IH H8104 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS