Dear MMA Member,

The Mailing Business is Being Threatened.

On November 7, the United States Postal Service (USPS) told the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) that it will pursue its request for exigent – above inflation – postage increases. These increases would be above and beyond the already scheduled 2.1 percent increase set to take effect on January 22, 2012.

The future of the US Mail depends upon forward thinking. Rather than digging up the past, USPS should be looking forward and right-sizing its network, transportation, and employee complement. DMA immediately urged the PRC to reject the USPS’ plan, which relies upon old data and failed logic to support driving postage higher. This is not the time to drive more mail from the system.

We have already fought – and won – this battle once in 2010. Now we’re gearing up to win it for you once again. The previous exigent case was successfully opposed on the grounds that the circumstances didn't warrant an exigent rate hike and that such a hike would in fact drive more mail out of the system at a time when USPS should be removing excess capacity.

In addition to fighting rate increases at the PRC, DMA has been working hard to make sure that postal legislation in Congress safeguards the interests of all mailers. We continue to work closely with key policymakers – on both sides of Capitol Hill, and both sides of the political aisle – and our efforts are really paying off.

• Recently, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Reform Committee voted to send the "21st Century Postal Service Act" to the Senate floor. When this bipartisan bill was introduced, it failed to properly protect catalog products from steep and immediate postage increases. DMA worked with key leaders in the Senate to create a provision that safeguards catalogs appropriately before the bill was passed out of the Committee.
• DMA was also successful in fighting two proposed amendments that would have required USPS to create a national "Do Not Mail" program. Because of our efforts, these amendments were not even considered by the Committee.
• We are also fighting to defend the lifeblood of nonprofit mailers. DMA was able to keep a harmful provision that would have slashed the nonprofit rate preference from being introduced in the Senate. We are also fighting hard to have a similar provision removed from legislation being considered in the House.

We encourage you to join the hundreds of DMA members that have already taken “DMAAction” to support our efforts in Washington. Visit our DMAAction website today to learn how you can tell Congress to safeguard the interests of the mailing community!

Sincerely,

Linda Woolley
EVP, Washington Operations
Direct Marketing Association