CULPEPER STAR-EXPONENT, ALLISON BROPHY CHAMPION

The Deliver for Democracy Act seeks to hold the U.S. Postal Service accountable for on time newspaper delivery service and incentivize reliability.

The measure, supported by U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, follows a USPS price hike — the sixth one in three years without improving newspaper delivery service, according to a release from her office. The bipartisan legislation seeks to limit excessive rate increases for periodicals by blocking the post office’s authority to raise rates unless delivery and service standards are met.

The legislation proposes USPS either achieve at least a 95% on time delivery rate for periodicals or an improvement of at least two percentage points. If they do not, USPS may not use its 2% surcharge authority to increase rates for that class of mail, according to the release.

Spanberger helped backed the legislation last week in support of rural newspaper delivery, formerly done by paper carriers, now handled by the postal service.