RL34188
Congressional Official Mail Costs
March 26, 2008
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Summary
The congressional franking privilege allows Members of Congress to send official mail via the U.S. Postal Service at government expense. This report provides information and analysis on the costs of franked mail in the House and Senate. In FY2007, overall expenditures on official mail were $17,523,139. House official mail costs ($14,215,689) were 81.1% of the total, whereas Senate mail costs ($3,307,450) were 18.9% of the total. In the House, 90.3% of mail costs were Member mass mailings, whereas approximately 22.7% of Senate mail costs were Member mass mailings. Seventy-eight percent of House offices and 28% of Senate offices sent at least one mass mailing.
