Rate Hikes Won't Help Postal Service

By Sen. Susan Collins. This postal rate hike, far beyond the inflation rate, is inconsistent with the law. The 2006 postal reform act was intended to produce pricing predictability and stability, allowing the Postal Service to raise rates up to the consumer price index without going through a litigious, expensive process.

As the principal author of that law, I know, however, that the Postal Service has the authority to increase rates above the inflation rate only if it demonstrates “extraordinary or exceptional circumstances.”