The Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-241) directed the Postal Service (USPS) to issue a special stamp for first-class mail. Any amounts collected from the special stamp (called a semipostal), after accounting for USPS administrative costs, were transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for programs to support endangered species. The Postal Service stopped selling these stamps at the end of 2018; H.R. 1446 would direct USPS to continue selling these stamps until all remaining stamps are sold.
CBO anticipates that the Postal Service would charge 60 cents for each multinational species semipostal stamp, and that payments above the regular first-class postage rate (currently 55 cents) would be treated as offsetting collections (that is, as a credit against spending) of the Postal Service. Based on past sales of this semipostal, we expect that the increase in offsetting collections under H.R. 1446 would be less than $1 million annually. The collections and spending by the Postal Service, including the transfer to the USFWS, are classified as off-budget. The receipt of the transfer and subsequent spending by the USFWS are classified as on budget. CBO estimates that both agencies would spend their collections soon after they receive them so that the net change in outlays for both agencies would not be significant in any year.
