TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending September 30, 2005

S.37 A bill to extend the special postage stamp for breast cancer research for 2 years.

BRIEF

   The 105^th Congress passed a law authorizing a special, 1^st class postage stamp to sell for 45 cents. The 8 cent difference between the special stamp and a regular first class stamp would aim to supplement federal spending to make the public more aware of breast cancer. The authority to print the stamp expires this year but has raised $43.9 million since 1998.

   The Postal Service has noted increased costs from handling the stamp and the bill would allow them to subtract reasonable costs. The remaining funds would be transferred to the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense for breast cancer research. Seventy percent to NIH and thirty percent to DOD.

  This bill extends the authority to issue the stamp for two years.

Sponsor: Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent September 27, 2005

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that enacting S. 37 would generate collections above the regular postage rate of roughly $5 million in each of fiscal years 2006 and 2007 and about $2 million in 2008. After covering its administrative costs (about $1 million over this period), the Postal Service would transfer those collections to NIH and DoD in May and November of each year. Thus, the net impact on the Postal Service over the 2006-2008 period would be zero.”

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