USPS Shipping Equity Act Returns to House of Representatives

A bill to grant the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) alcohol shipping privileges has once again returned to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The USPS Shipping Equity Act (H.R. 3721) was introduced in the House last week and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on the Judiciary. Reps. Dan Newhouse (D-WA) and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) put forth the bill with eight other co-sponsors.

The bill has been introduced several times in various forms, but this version is the first to make it to the House floor without the backing of retired Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), who championed it several times throughout her congressional career.

Under the USPS Shipping Equity Act, the USPS would be permitted to carry alcoholic beverages in states where direct-to-consumer (DTC) shipping is legal. Licensed private carriers, such as UPS and FedEx are permitted to do so now, but they don’t serve all markets.

“Allowing USPS to deliver wine, beer, and spirits produced across our great nation provides another option for shipping carriers,” Newhouse said in a press release. “This is extremely beneficial to small craft breweries and locally owned wineries, especially in rural regions like Central Washington, who struggle to gain market access. The time has come for us to shatter these barriers and unlock the tremendous potential of the wine and alcoholic beverage industry.”

The Brewers Association (BA) has long supported the bill and counts it among the trade organization’s federal legislative priorities.

“This bill is critical in leveling the playing field and increasing consumer and manufacturer choice while bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for the USPS,” BA senior director of federal affairs Katie Marisic wrote in a post on the BA’s website.

DTC sales in general have been an important platform plank for the BA but are all the more important as the middle tier continues to consolidate. Fewer, larger wholesalers often leads to the jettisoning of smaller craft brands from portfolios, leaving breweries with fewer routes to market. In rural and remote areas where major private carriers may not operate, granting alcohol shipping privileges to the USPS could provide a much-needed avenue to craft brewers.

“Small and independent breweries produce hundreds of styles of beer, but due to distributor consolidation, there are fewer opportunities to get their products to consumers,” BA president and CEO Bob Pease said in a press release. “Direct-to-consumer shipping is a critical way for these businesses to make their low-volume products accessible to the people who want to buy them.

“Since 11 states and Washington, D.C., already allow breweries to ship beer directly to consumers, the USPS Shipping Equity Act is common sense legislation that provides those breweries with another way to access the market,” he continued.

The beer industry isn’t united on this front. The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has long opposed the USPS Shipping Equity Act on the grounds that wider access to alcohol is a threat to public health and safety.

“Alcohol is not like potato chips or other goods – the three-tier system was designed to protect public health and safety and facilitate regulation,” former NBWA chairman Pat Blach said during his address to the trade association’s 2021 convention.

Still, were the act to pass, it could generate $180 million annually for the USPS, according to research the BA shared. The BA clarified that the act “would not impact state and local excise tax collection and regulation of beverage alcohol, nor does it make any changes to excise tax collection or inhibit state and local authority in regulating beverage alcohol.”

In addition to Newhouse and Wexton, the USPS Shipping Equity Act has the following cosponsors: