Sponsor
Adam Schiff
Senator · D-CA
Senator · D-CA
The bill provides free PO boxes and oversight measures that improve address stability and benefit access for unhoused and low‑income people, while shifting costs to taxpayers and creating potential administrative/implementation hurdles and short‑term USPS disruptions.
Unhoused and housing‑unstable people (and other low‑income residents) gain a free, stable PO box address, enabling them to receive official mail and access benefits and services (e.g., Medicaid, SNAP, TANF) more reliably.
Congress and oversight entities receive a required 180‑day implementation plan and recurring five‑year progress reports, increasing transparency and making it easier to track delivery of PO boxes to eligible people.
Congressional appropriations to reimburse USPS for lost box‑fee revenue and box acquisition/maintenance costs reduce the likelihood the Postal Service must cut other services to comply, helping protect broader USPS operations.
Taxpayers may shoulder ongoing costs beginning in FY2027 to reimburse USPS for lost rental revenue and box‑related expenses.
Eligibility verification requirements could create administrative hurdles for eligible people (especially those without ID or stable documentation), delaying or blocking their access to free PO boxes and associated services.
USPS may need to reconfigure retail space or add staffing to implement free PO boxes, potentially disrupting local post office operations during rollout.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
USPS must offer free PO boxes to unhoused or housing-unstable low-income people and may be reimbursed by Congress for lost revenue and costs.
Official title: Provide free post office boxes to individuals who are unhoused or experiencing housing instability, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 22, 2026 by Adam Schiff · Last progress July 22, 2026
Requires the United States Postal Service to provide free post office boxes to people who are unhoused or housing-unstable and who meet specified low-income or program-based criteria (poverty-level income, TANF, federal rental assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, or WIC). The USPS must issue implementing regulations within one year and may acquire additional boxes to meet demand. Directs the Postmaster General to seek annual funding from Congress beginning in FY2027 to cover lost rental revenue and additional costs, and authorizes appropriations to reimburse USPS for revenue losses and new costs; also requires an implementation plan within 180 days and recurring five-year progress reports to Congress.