The National Newspaper Association would likely oppose current postal reform legislation unless lawmakers amend the proposal, the group said.
The Senate committee with Postal Service oversight, the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, approved the modified postal bill by a vote of 9 to 1 this month.
As written, S. 1486 would allow the elimination of Saturday delivery after mail volume falls to 140 billion pieces annually, expected to occur in about 2018 at the current decline rate, according to Tonda Rush, chief executive officer of the NNA.
The legislation would allow a review of postal rate increases after implementation instead of before, as they are now, Rush said.
It would also give the U.S. Postal Service a more liberal hand to raise postal rates for newspapers and cut rates for newspaper competitors, she said.
