Delivering for America Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8015 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Received AN ACT To maintain prompt and reliable postal services during the COVID–19 health emergency, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8015.RDS H8015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 8015 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Delivering for America 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. PROMPT AND RELIABLE POSTAL SERVICES DURING 4 COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the period beginning on 6 the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the last 7 day of the COVID–19 public health emergency or January 8 31, 2021, whichever is later, the United States Postal 9 Service may not implement or approve any change to the 10 operations or the level of service provided by the Postal 11 Service from those in effect on January 1, 2020, that 12 would reduce service performance or impede prompt, reli- 13 able, and efficient services, including any of the following 14 actions: 15 (1) Any change in the nature of postal services 16 which will generally affect service on a nationwide or 17 substantially nationwide basis. 18 (2) Any revision of service standards. 19 (3) Any closure or consolidation of any post of- 20 fice or postal facility, or any reduction of such office 21 or facility hours. 22 (4) Any prohibition or restriction on the use of 23 overtime or overtime pay to Postal Service officers 24 or employees. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8015.RDS H8015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 8015 RDS (5) Any change that would prevent the Postal 1 Service from meeting its service standards or cause 2 a decline in measurements of performance relative to 3 those service standards. 4 (6) Any change that would have the effect of 5 delaying deferring, or curtailing mail, allowing for 6 the non-delivery of mail to a delivery route, or in- 7 creasing the volume of undelivered mail. 8 (7) Treating election mail as any class of mail 9 other than first-class mail, regardless of whether 10 such treatment requires payment of overtime pay to 11 officers or employees of the Postal Service. 12 (8) Removing, decommissioning, or any other 13 stoppage of mail sorting machines, other than for 14 routine maintenance. 15 (9) Removing or eliminating any mail collection 16 box that is available to the public. 17 (10) Enacting any rule, policy, or standard the 18 purpose or effect of which would delay the delivery 19 of mail to or from a government entity. 20 (11) Instituting any hiring freeze. 21 (b) REVERSAL OF POLICIES HINDERING DELIVERY 22 OF MAIL.—The United States Postal Service shall reverse 23 any initiative or action that is causing delay in processing 24 or delivery or non-delivery of the mail. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8015.RDS H8015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 8015 RDS (c) ELECTION MAIL.— 1 (1) POLICY ON POSTMARKS.—It shall be the 2 policy of the United States Postal Service to post- 3 mark, which shall include any imprinted indicia from 4 the Postal Service that indicates the date of receipt, 5 all election mail processed by the Postal Service. 6 (2) SAME-DAY PROCESSING.—The United 7 States Postal Service shall ensure, to the maximum 8 extent practical, that election mail is processed and 9 cleared from any postal facility or post office on the 10 same day it is received at such a facility or post of- 11 fice. 12 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 13 (1) the term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer- 14 gency’’ means the public health emergency declared 15 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on 16 January 27, 2020, with respect to the 2019 Novel 17 Coronavirus; 18 (2) the term ‘‘election mail’’ means mail con- 19 sisting of— 20 (A) voter registration application forms, 21 completed voter registration application forms, 22 and voter registration cards or similar mate- 23 rials; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8015.RDS H8015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 8015 RDS (B) absentee and other mail-in ballot appli- 1 cation forms, blank absentee and other mail-in 2 ballots, and completed absentee and other mail- 3 in ballots; and 4 (C) other materials relating to an election 5 which are mailed by a State or local election of- 6 ficial to individuals who are registered to vote 7 in the election; and 8 (3) the term ‘‘government entity’’ means the 9 Federal Government or any State (as that term is 10 defined in section 311 of title 5, United States 11 Code) or local government and any subdivision 12 thereof. 13 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION FOR THE POSTAL 14 SERVICE. 15 There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treas- 16 ury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending 17 September 30, 2020, for an additional payment to the 18 Postal Service Fund (established under section 2003 of 19 title 39, United States Code), $25,000,000,000, to remain 20 available until expended. Of the amount appropriated in 21 the previous sentence, $15,000,000 shall be transferred to 22 ‘‘United States Postal Service—Office of Inspector Gen- 23 eral—Salaries and Expenses’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8015.RDS H8015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 8015 RDS SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 1 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or oth- 2 erwise effect the terms and conditions of section 3406 of 3 title 39, United States Code (relating to balloting mate- 4 rials under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 5 Voting Act). 6 SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided by this Act 8 are designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to 9 section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 10 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 11 (b) DESIGNATION IN THE SENATE.—In the Senate, 12 this Act is designated as an emergency requirement pursu- 13 ant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Con- 14 gress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 15 year 2018. 16 Passed the House of Representatives August 22, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8015.RDS H8015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS