Delivering for America Act
Latest action · Sep 8, 2020 Received in the Senate.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 11, 2020
- Passed HouseAug 22, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Delivering for America Act
This bill prohibits the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from making changes to operations or levels of service from those that were in effect on January 1, 2020, establishes requirements for the processing of election mail, and provides additional funding for the Postal Service Fund.
(Sec. 2) Specifically, the USPS may not, during the period beginning on enactment of this bill and ending on the last day of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency or January 31, 2021, whichever is later, implement or approve any change to the operations or the level of service that would reduce service performance or impede prompt, reliable, and efficient services. Such changes include the following:
- changes in the nature of services that will generally affect service on a nationwide basis;
- revisions of service standards;
- closures or consolidations of post offices or facilities or reduction of hours;
- prohibitions or restrictions on the use of overtime or payment of overtime pay to USPS officers or employees;
- changes that would prevent the USPS from meeting its service standards or that would reduce measurements of performance concerning those standards;
- changes that would have the effect of delaying, deferring, or curtailing mail, allowing non-delivery to a delivery route, or increasing the volume of undelivered mail;
- treating election mail as any class of mail other than first-class mail, regardless of whether this requires overtime pay;
- any removal or stoppage of mail sorting machines, other than for routine maintenance;
- removing or eliminating any mail collection box available to the public;
- enacting any rule, policy, or standard the purpose or effect of which would delay delivery of mail to or from a government entity; and
- instituting any hiring freeze.
The USPS shall reverse any initiative or action that is causing delay in processing or delivery or non-delivery of mail.
With regard to election mail specifically, the bill (1) establishes USPS policy to postmark, with imprinted indicia of the date of receipt, all processed election mail; and (2) directs the USPS to ensure that election mail is processed and cleared from any postal facility on the same day it is received. The term election mail means voter registration materials, absentee and other mail-in applications and ballots, and other materials mailed by state or local election officials to individuals registered to vote in the election.
(Sec. 3) The bill appropriates $25 billion as an additional payment to the Postal Service Fund, of which $15 million shall be transferred to the USPS Office of Inspector General.
Recorded votes 2
Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.
| Roll call | Question | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House 182 | On Passage | Passed257–150 | Aug 22, 2020 |
| House 181 | On Motion to Recommit with Instructions | Failed182–223 | Aug 22, 2020 |
Cosponsors 222
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 14, 2020 to Aug 21, 2020.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Alan S. Lowenthal | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Anna G. Eshoo | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-MA | Ayanna Pressley | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-MS | Bennie G. Thompson | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| R-PA | Brian K. Fitzpatrick | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-IA | Cynthia Axne | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-VA | Donald S. Beyer, Jr. | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-TX | Filemon Vela | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-CA | Jackie Speier | Aug 14, 2020 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Aug 14, 2020 |
Actions 16
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 8, 2020Received in the Senate.
- Aug 22, 2020Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1092. (consideration: CR H4256-4298)
- Aug 22, 2020DEBATE - The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Comer motion to recommit with instructions. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the bill to be reported back to the House with an amendment to add language to establish penalties for Postal Service employees who are found guilty of tampering with a Federal election.
- Aug 22, 2020DEBATE - The House proceeded with two hour of debate on H.R. 8015.
- Aug 22, 2020Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Amendments 1
Amendments offered to this bill.
| Amendment | Description | Offered by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAmdt 874 | Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1092, the amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 116-61 is considered adopted. | Rules Committee | On agreeing to the Rules amendment (A001) Agreed to without objection. |
Related bills 4
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HRES 1092 | Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 8015) to maintain prompt and reliable postal services during the COVID-19 health emergency, and for other purposes. | Procedurally related | Aug 22, 2020 |
| S 4527 | Delivering for America Act | Related bill | Aug 13, 2020 |
| S 4585 | Delivering for America Act | Related bill | Sep 16, 2020 |
| HR 8607 | U.S. Postal Service Accountability and Voting Rights Act | Related bill | Oct 16, 2020 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Appropriations
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Employee hiring
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Government buildings, facilities, and property
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government studies and investigations
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Performance measurement
- Postal service
- State and local government operations
- U.S. Postal Service
- Wages and earnings
Text 3
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 8, 2020Received in Senate
- Aug 22, 2020Engrossed in House
- Aug 11, 2020Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.