Business or Public Service? Insights into the Unique Laws and Regulations Applying to the Postal Service

The Postal Reorganization Act (PRA) of 1970 entrusted the Postal Service with a mission to provide trusted and affordable universal service to the American public. Congress established the U.S. Postal Service as an independent agency that receives the vast majority of its funding through revenue from postage. It is supported by the longstanding mailbox and mail delivery monopolies rather than from congressional appropriations. Over the last few decades, however, the steady decline of mail volume, the substantial liability of health and retirement benefit programs and, recently, an increasingly competitive package market have strained USPS’s financial sustainability.