PRC Closed, Mailers Contend With Exigency Threat
Last week the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) was given 90 days to decide
on the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS)
request for an 4.3% exigent rate increase, but the PRC stands closed today
as part of the federal government shutdown. If the shutdown lingers, the PRC's
deadline could be extended, but mailers are at work mulling contingencies
surrounding the proposed increase.“If the shutdown is temporary, we're assuming that the PRC will try to keep
within the original deadline, and if they decide to move forward we'll be
quickly able to file some things,” says Jerry Cerasale, SVP of governmental
affairs at the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). For now, the DMA is busy
crafting a written statement for the PRC's deliberations, but it is also girding
for a more severe confrontation down the road.
