House Supports Limit on Members’ Mailing Privileges
The House voted Sunday to limit the mail each member may send to constituents and to require disclosure of how much taxpayers’ money each member spends on postage.
They also voted to cut $76 million from the $2.2-billion spending bill that pays for the operations of Congress. The reductions head off proposed increases in staff salary accounts.
The House approved the bill, 292 to 117, after adopting the mailing limits on a voice vote. The measure was sent to the Senate.
The limits on mailing were set high enough that they would not affect most members of the House. Each will have an allowance sufficient to send three first-class mailings to each residential address in his district, an amount that averages $178,000.
Members could boost that by as much as $25,000 by transferring money from their office accounts, and each would have to report quarterly on how much had been spent.
The move was designed to prevent abuses by some members who spend $400,000 or more each year on mailings.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
