Sponsors (15)
This bill directs substantial federal funding and stronger federal prosecution and sentencing attention to protect postal workers and reduce mail theft, trading off billions in taxpayer costs, higher DOJ and USPS operational burdens, and risks of reduced judicial discretion or misplaced expectations where provisions are non‑binding.
All U.S. mail users, USPS employees, and local governments will get predictable federal funding of $1.4 billion per year for five years to plan and carry out mail-security and modernization projects.
Residents, businesses, and postal customers will see more secure public mail collection points and updated access controls (high-security collection boxes and electronic keys), reducing mail theft and unauthorized access.
Postal employees and mail recipients will face stronger sentencing protections and expanded accountability (including for dangerous conduct during flight), which may deter attacks and improve worker and public safety.
All U.S. taxpayers face an estimated authorization cost of roughly $7 billion over five years to fund the upgrades, with no offsets specified in the bill.
Harsher mandatory sentencing and broadened culpability for offenses against postal workers could increase incarceration costs for taxpayers and limit judges' ability to tailor punishments, raising concerns about disproportionate sentences and overcriminalization.
The DOJ will need to assign or hire prosecutors for the new mail-focused roles, increasing federal staffing costs and potentially diverting prosecutorial resources from other federal priorities in some districts.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes $1.4B/year (FY2025–29) for USPS mailbox security and electronic keys, mandates DOJ district AUSAs for postal crimes, and directs sentencing parity with assaults on officers.
Introduced February 6, 2025 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress February 6, 2025
Provides federal funding and criminal-justice measures to protect postal letter carriers. It authorizes $1.4 billion per year for FY2025–FY2029 for the Postal Service to upgrade public collection boxes and replace physical universal mailbox keys with electronic systems, requires the Department of Justice to appoint a district Assistant U.S. Attorney in each federal judicial district to coordinate prosecutions of crimes against postal employees, and directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to treat assaults and robberies of postal employees the same as assaults on law enforcement officers in sentencing rules.