Periodicals, other postage rates set to increase in July

Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) last month approved an increase to postage rates, including seeking a nearly 10 percent increase for periodical rates.

Periodicals will see an overall increase of 9.385 percent if the postage rate changes go into effect on July 13. Outside county rates will increase by 9.352 percent and within county rates will go up even more, 9.763 percent.

The July postage increase marks the 9th rise in rates since January 2020.

In USPS’ April 9 filing with the PRC, the agency laid out its intent to use almost the entirety of its available 9.4 percentage points in pricing authority for the Periodicals class. USPS said the attributable cost for Periodicals exceeded the revenue it received.

Specifically, the April filing cites the Delivering for America plan and that “price changes are an integral component of that plan” to achieve “financial sustainability and service excellence”.

Changes to First-Class Mail rates will also affect newspaper members. Both stamped and metered single-piece First-Class Mail is increasing by 5 cents, to 78 cents and 74 cents respectively.

You can read the entirety of the postal service’s filing with the PRC here: bit.ly/3YYkCgy.

Earlier this year, Missouri Congressman Sam Graves introduced the USPS Services Enhancement and Regulatory Viability Expansion and Sustainability Act with the intent of updating and reforming the postal regulatory process.

Known as the USPS SERVES US Act, the bill is H.R.3004 and has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. You can read the text of the bill here: https://www.congress. gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3004/text.