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Updated February 7, 2019
Congressional Franked Mail: Overview
Background
Cost of Congressional Official Mail
Official mail, sometimes referred to as “franked mail,”
According to USPS, Congress spent $19.8 million on
allows Members of Congress to transmit mail matter under
official mail during FY2018, representing approximately
their signature, or “frank,” without prepayment for postage.
0.4% of the $4.7 billion budget for the entire legislative
Members’ ability to send franked mail facilitates official
branch for FY2018. House official mail costs ($18.5
communication between elected officials and their
million) were 94% of the total, whereas Senate official mail
constituents. Although franked mail does not require
costs ($1.2 million) were 6% of the total. During FY2017,
prepayment of postage, Congress pays the U.S. Postal
Congress spent $7.7 million on official mail. House official
Service for the cost of franked mail in annual
mail costs ($6.5 million) were 85% of the total, whereas
appropriations bills.
Senate official mail costs ($1.2 million) were 15% of the
total. Figure 1 shows House and Senate official mail costs
Members’ use and the content of official mail is regulated
from FY1979-FY2018.
by several sources, including federal law and chamber rules
and regulations. Official communications sent as franked
Figure 1.Official Mail Costs, FY1978-FY2018
mail may include such items as letters in response to
By Chamber, Nominal Dollars
constituent requests for information, newsletters regarding
legislation and Member votes, press releases about official
Member activities, copies of the Congressional Record and
government reports, and notices about upcoming town
meetings organized by Members, among others.
Member Mail Allowances
Congress pays the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for franked
mail through annual appropriations for the legislative
branch. Each chamber uses a formula to allocate funds to
Members from these appropriations. In the Senate, the
allocation process is administered by the Committee on
Rules and Administration; in the House, by the Committee
on House Administration.
In the Senate, each Senator’s franked mail postage
allowance is determined by a formula that gives a
Source: CRS analysis of U.S. Postal Service data.
maximum allowance equal to the cost of one first-class
mailing to every address in the Senator’s state. If the total
A number of factors, including technological changes and
Senate appropriation for official mail is less than the
reform efforts, have reduced official mail costs over the
amount required for the maximum allowance, each
past 30 years. Expenditures during even-numbered fiscal
Senator’s allowance is proportionally reduced. A Senate
years have been reduced by over 80% from a high of
office that exceeds its allowance may supplement the
$113.4 million in FY1988 to $19.8 million in FY2018.
allowance with official office account funds. Senators are,
Similarly, expenditures during odd-numbered fiscal years
however, limited to $50,000 for mass mailings (defined as
have been reduced by over 90% from $89.5 million in
500 or more identical pieces of unsolicited mail) in any
FY1989 to $7.7 million in FY2017. House mail costs have
fiscal year; mass mailings must be paid through Senators’
decreased from a high of $77.9 million in FY1988 to $18.5
Official Personnel and Office Expense Account
million in FY2018. The Senate has also reduced its costs,
(SOPOEA).
from a high of $43.6 million in FY1984 to $1.2 million in
FY2018.
As with other official expenses, Members of the House are
permitted to spend any portion of their Member
Regulation
Representational Allowance (MRA) on franked mail,
The use of franked mail is regulated by federal law, House
subject to law and House regulations. The total amount of
each Member’s MRA is determined in part by a
and Senate rules, regulations of the Committee on House
franked
Administration and Senate Rules and Administration
mail postage allowance; this mail allowance is calculated
Committee, and regulations of the Senate Select Committee
based on the number of nonbusiness addresses in each
Member’s district. Each Representative’s
on Ethics and the House Commission on Congressional
franked mail
Mailing Standards.
allowance is combined with allowances for office staff and
official office expenses to form an overall MRA.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Congressional Franked Mail: Overview
Franked mail may be used only for matters of public
communications have become the most common method of
concern or public service. It may not be used to solicit votes
Members communicating with their constituents.
or contributions, to send mail regarding political campaigns
or political parties, or to mail autobiographical or holiday
The rise of electronic communication has altered traditional
greeting materials. Both House and Senate regulations
communications between Members and constituents.
specify limitations on the size and formatting of franked
Unlike postal letters, electronic communication allows
mail. Official funds must be used in the preparation of
Members to reach large numbers of constituents for a fixed
materials sent under the frank; no private funds may
cost, and permits constituents to reach Members at virtually
supplement printing, production, or other costs.
zero cost. Likewise, information gets from Capitol Hill to
the rest of the country much more quickly, to the point that
Mass mailings are further restricted by law and chamber
as soon as something happens in Congress, it can be known
rules and regulations. Each mass mailing sent by a Member
everywhere in real time. Finally, Members can easily reach
of Congress must bear the following notice: “Prepared,
large numbers of citizens who are not their own
Published, and Mailed at Taxpayer Expense.” Senators are
constituents.
prohibited from sending mass mailings fewer than 60 days
prior to any primary election in which they are a candidate,
At the same time that Member use of electronic
as well as 60 days prior to any general election, regardless
communications is increasing, the amount spent on official
of whether or not they are a candidate. House Members are
mail is at or near historic lows. The decline in official mail
prohibited from sending mass mailings fewer than 90 days
expenditures initially coincided with reform efforts in the
prior to any general or primary election in which they are a
late 1980s, including public disclosure of mail costs for
candidate, and are prohibited from sending unsolicited mass
individual Members and direct charging of Members’
mailings outside their district.
budgets for the cost of mail they send. However, nominal
mail costs have also declined over 40% in the past 12 years,
Franking regulations also require disclosure of individual
from $34.1 million in FY2006 to $19.8 million in FY2018.
Members’ mass mailings costs. In the House, costs are
Adjusted for inflation, this is a decrease in official mail
reported quarterly in the Statement of Disbursements of the
expenditures of over one-half, almost certainly driven in
House as part of a total mass communications cost. Senate
part by a shift toward electronic communications.
costs appear in the biannual Report of the Secretary of the
Senate.
For more information on Member communications, see
CRS Report R44509, Social Media in Congress: The
Electronic Communications
Impact of Electronic Media on Member Communications,
Although all Members continue to use traditional modes of
by Jacob R. Straus and Matthew E. Glassman. For more
constituent communication, they have many more choices
information on House Members’ Representational
than they did several decades ago. In addition to traditional
Allowance, see CRS Report R40962, Members’
modes of communication, Members and constituents can
Representational Allowance: History and Usage, by Ida A.
now communicate via email, tele-townhalls, and social
Brudnick. For more information on Senate office expenses,
media, among other means.
see CRS Report R44399, Senators’ Official Personnel and
Office Expense Account (SOPOEA): History and Usage, by
In recent years, both Members and constituents have
Ida A. Brudnick.
increasingly taken advantage of these new forms of
communication. On the constituent side, email has now
William T. Egar, Analyst in American National
become the preferred form of communication with
Government
Congress. Over time, the volume of emails received by the
House of Representatives and the Senate has come to dwarf
IF10489
the volume of incoming postal mail. Communications from
Congress have seen a similar transformation; electronic
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Congressional Franked Mail: Overview
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
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