The price of a postage stamp in America is set to drop in April 2016 for
the first time in 97 years.
President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act in 1792, which
set the price of postage in America according to the distance the mail had to
travel. Later postage rates also included the size of the mail, and later, the
weight of the mail. From 1885-2001 additional charges occurred for ‘special
deliveries.’ The 1970 Postal Reorganization Act announced that the Postal
Regulatory Commission would set the postal rates.
Domestic Parcel Post came into existence in America in 1913. In 1919, due
to the war, domestic postal prices reduced in America: from 3 cents for letters
weighing less than one ounce down to 2 cents.
In September 2013 First Class postal rates, effective from 26 January 2014,
increased from 46 cents to 49 cents. The reason for the increase was the loss
of $5 billion during the 2013 fiscal year – and raising the price of stamps was
a way to raise revenue. A reduction in price by 2 cents will occur in 2016. The
United States Postal Services says it will lose $2 billion a year with the
price change.
The legislation to set the postal price at 49 cents was a temporary
enactment, and is set to expire in April 2016 – now! The price of a First Class
postal stamp will be reduced to 47 cents – a drop in prices for the first time
since 1919 – 97 years.
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
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